It Ends Tonight
by Miss Peg
Summary: What if series 4 never happened? Naomi still got scared, but instead of cheating, she ran; escaped the relationship and her life. Until one day she comes back to Bristol and things begin to change all over again. / Naomily.
1. Chapter 1: Gina

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**A few ideas mixed together caused the creation of this. The first chapter is from Gina Campbell's POV, if you're unsure about that don't worry. It won't stay like that, it's merely the first chapter.**

**Please read and then review - reviews make the world go round. Nothing beats a review when you've spent hours of time and effort creating something. I am sooo thankful to you all for reviewing my most recent one-shots. If you're not a member on here, you can still review - I accept anonymous ones.**

It Ends Tonight

Gina was alone.

There was no choice to be made, no decision that caused the loneliness. It just was. During the week it didn't matter. At seven the alarm would go off, forcing her to wake up from whatever dreamland she had been in. That's if she'd been able to sleep that night; insomnia having only really been a problem when she was fresh out of university and everything was changing. Now, she was merely a mother without a daughter, the owner of a nest whose only other inhabitant had flown away. She was by definition alone and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

So there she lay on a Sunday morning, staring around the faintly lit room wondering what she would do with her day. It wasn't an average Sunday, she remembered. The shops had been broadcasting it for weeks, she'd watched a news programme about the financial implications of such days and had spent an hour debating the morality of it with her good friend Keith. Yet despite the moral issue, she was on her own in a house that no longer saw the laughter of children, or even teenagers, on a day that was supposed to celebrate all mothers. She was still a mother, but without her daughter there, the day reverted back to an average Sunday where she called her own mother up, wished her well, listened to her moan about the state of the economy or the new Prime Minister and then what?

Breakfast was not in bed, it wasn't a lavish meal of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes and hash browns. It was toast and a cup of regular tea (_she'd ran out of her chamomile and hadn't found the time or the motivation to buy more_) at the kitchen table, a newspaper her only source of conversation as she mumbled her disapproval towards that same new Prime Minister or the man who looked after the economy.

She considered calling her daughter, wondered if her daughter would call her. Didn't do anything about it mind. She was stubborn and so was Naomi. She wasn't the one who would break the ice and she suspected Naomi wouldn't be either.

A faint tapping on the front door drew Gina's attention away from the whistling kettle and out into the hallway. She stepped along the carpet, couldn't remember when the spring in the year-old flooring had vanished to make way for the flatter, less comfortable surface. She reached for the handle, pulled the door open readying herself to fight off the religious types who liked to interrupt her Sunday morning breakfast on a regular basis. But when the door fell completely open, she found her mouth opening in surprise.

'Emily.'

The red head looked up at her with a large smile, big enough to make Gina feel better. If she couldn't be with her daughter on Mother's Day, Emily Fitch was a close enough second. She was like a daughter to her; a beautiful, grown up young lady who actually liked spending time with her. Unlike Naomi. She was the daughter who went out of her way to visit, sending a brief text message when she got her exam results, again when she returned from her solo trip overseas. Gina was the first person she told about her new girlfriend and though it was sad knowing Emily was moving on from Naomi, she also felt relieved that she was getting on with life and not wallowing in everything she herself had pondered over repeatedly at three in the morning when insomnia got the better of her.

'Happy Mother's Day,' Emily smiled, following her into the kitchen.

Gina pulled out two mugs, reset the kettle to make sure it was hot enough and picked out the regular teabags that she didn't much care for. She turned around to ask Emily how she was, stopping short when she spotted the present wrapped on the table. Tears filled her eyes, a lump fixed in her throat until she swallowed it. It hurt to cry, to think of the lack of contact she had with Naomi, the missed opportunities to comfort her shattered daughter.

'Oh Emily,' it was also a beautiful gesture that made her heart swell for the girl she hadn't even given birth to.

'I thought you deserved a little something and I wasn't sure if Naomi would, I hope you don't mind.'

'You didn't need to,' Gina muttered, pressing fingers to a few stray tears. 'But thank you.'

The box was beautifully carved, oriental to the point of not being from the local area. Gina listened as Emily explained its Turkish roots and how it screamed her name the moment she set eyes on it. The regular teabags were quickly forgotten when Gina found an assortment of interesting and new blends from Tea Pigs inside the box.

'This is too much,' she gasped, pulling the smaller, slender girl into an embrace.

'Nothing's too much for you Gina,' Emily noted, patting her back before suggesting the Chocolate Flake Tea as a first choice to try.

*

Three different mugs of tea later, one abandoned, Gina and Emily had shared all the small talk they could muster. With only two very brief mentions of Naomi, there was now nothing left but to discuss the person between them they so often avoided talking about.

'Has she not called then?'

Gina shook her head, smiled to assure Emily she was okay before the questions started rolling in. Instead distracted herself with another variety of tea. Emily saw through it, closed the box before she could attempt to discuss it any longer.

'I thought you were the one not wanting to talk about my darling daughter,' Gina noted.

'She left me, I didn't stop loving her.'

The saddest truth of all lingered between them like an icy river keeping them apart. Gina knew what Emily said was the truth because she felt it too. Her daughter hadn't left her, not metaphorically, like she had Emily. Yet she still wasn't there, she'd still moved away in the hope of gaining clarity on her life.

'I know.'

They stayed silent for a while, the quiet contemplative silence allowing them to think about their losses and their gains. Emily's hand covered Gina's, squeezing it until their eyes locked and they shared a comforting smile. It was a smile of understanding, of two people who _knew_.

'I got a message last week, she's busy doing assignments and living life to the fullest, just like she always wanted.'

The countless times Gina had listened to her daughter rave about her future, her plans to go to university and find her place in the world, it never got tiring. Even now, hearing about it in hindsight, it still made her smile. She wanted to hate Naomi for the way things ended, for breaking Emily's heart, for the last time they saw each other. But she was her daughter. She just couldn't hate her.

Emily smiled, squeezed her hand again. 'That's good.'

'So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?' Gina cleared her throat, returned her hand to her mug of tea and set about clearing up the crockery. 'Don't expect you to spend the whole thing with me.'

'Oh, not very much,' Emily sighed, putting the remainder of the regular teabags back into the cupboard.

Gina raised an eyebrow, staring at Emily with contention. 'Not very much?'

Emily shrugged. 'Just family stuff.'

'You can tell me you're going to spend the rest of your day with your mum,' Gina rolled her eyes, reprimanding her second daughter without a moments thought.

'I know.'

'Emily, you don't need to wrap me up in biodegradable cotton wool. I'm okay.'

Emily nodded. 'I'm having drinks with my parents and then Katie, mum and I are going out for dinner.'

'Just the girls, well that'll be lovely.'

'You should come,' Emily smiled, nodding along to her rash decision. 'I'm sure Katie won't mind and mum, well, she'll be okay.'

'Nonsense, it's Mother's Day. Not Mother's and random older women day,' Gina noted, running the cold tap and washing her hands. 'I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting your mother, but I know for a fact she wouldn't approve of me being anywhere near her.'

'If you're sure,' Emily trailed off.

Gina picked up the wooden box, placed it beside the kettle and ran her fingers across the oriental markings. She did love her new tea box and the luscious smells housed inside of it.

'You should go,' Gina assured Emily. 'Thank you for the lovely morning and for the box. We should do this again sometime, drink tea.'

Once Emily had left, after a few more minutes of disagreement, Gina returned to the kitchen and her newspaper. A number of mug shaped brown rings marked the front page, soaking through a couple of sheets. She flicked through to the page she'd been on earlier in the day. The article was rather drab and boring, she gave up after only a couple of lines in order to find the crossword. She wasn't the most intelligent of people, yet she still liked a good Sunday newspaper crossword to keep her brain alive. _Much better than those damn sudoku_, she told herself, _can never get anywhere with them. _

A light tapping on the front door pulled her from her paper again. Gina rolled her eyes, muttering her disapproval at the disruption, glancing over her shoulder in search of the room

'Don't tell me you forgot,' Gina began, her voice breaking up as a second visitor appeared on her doorstep.

'Not gonna let me in?' the tall girl asked after a moment longer waiting on the doorstep.

The voice was like music to Gina's ears, the blonde hair hanging loosely around her daughter's shoulders. It was even longer than it had been a few months earlier. She took a deep breath, tried to swallow the ever larger lump in her throat, giving in as tears slid down her cheeks. Naomi shrugged her shoulders, staring at her with confusion and worry until Gina wrapped her arms around her, pulled her into the house, into her arms. _This, _she thought, _is the best Mother's Day present ever._

**Please review and make a little old writer very happy.**


	2. Chapter 2: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH for the amazing reviews, I appreciate each and every one of them sooo much! :-D You guys make me so happy. Here's a new chapter, I hope the level of angst doesn't put people off. I seem to have a habit of putting things in at the deep end at the moment, then building up from there, there seems to be no exception here. Please review!**

It Ends Tonight; _Two_

When the door opened, she'd had a smile on her face. She promised herself she wouldn't cry. It was harder than she thought it would be. She expected a slap and a lecture, two things her mother had never given her before. Yet she still expected them. The woman, her mother, looked a little older round the eyes, more tired than the twelve months she'd spent struggling with depression when Naomi was thirteen. A lump caught in her throat. She didn't want to go back there, didn't want the more confident and happy Gina of recent years to return to their darkest place. But she'd walked away, she'd taken herself out of the equation and no longer mattered, no longer had the right to have a say.

'This is a surprise,' Gina choked out, wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeve and cupping Naomi's face with her hands. The forced eye contact was the one thing Naomi had feared. She could never lie to the person staring her right in the eye, nor could she hide the diluted pupils she knew shielded her true self.

'Such a beautiful young woman,' Gina smiled, her eyes overflowing in moisture. Naomi smiled back, thankful her mother probably couldn't see her very well through her glazed over eyes.

'Cup of tea?' Gina offered, walking over to a box, in the kitchen, by the kettle and muttering something about special blends.

Naomi nodded her answer, knew it didn't matter either way as she followed her into the most inhabited room of the house. She dropped her bags in the hallway before taking her usual seat with view of the unkempt garden. Except it wasn't so unkempt anymore. She stood up, moved towards the window and stared out at the carefully trimmed bushes, the trees still without leaves and a number of spring flowers poking through the winter ground. Her mother wasn't a gardener, she didn't even own a spade.

'Emily suggested some manual labour when my bicycle broke.'

The voice smashed her reverie to pieces, forced the name she'd spent months trying to forget into her mind again until it had found the most comfortable seat and sat down with chains around it.

'Oh.'

She didn't realise they spent any time together. Why would they? They weren't related, they didn't know each other. Or they didn't used to.

'Chamomile or Lemongrass?' Gina offered, placing two mugs on the table and sitting down in her usual chair.

'What the fucks lemongrass?' she spat out, regretting her tone the second the words left her lips. She walked around the kitchen, noting the subtle changes; a new kettle, a strange box that looked out of place, even in their eclectic home.

'Come sit down Naomi,' Gina turned to her, wrapping her fingers around her arm. 'You should try the lemongrass, it's very citrusy. I tried some this morning.'

Naomi sat down, sipped on the strange flavour of tea. It was amazing, really refreshing in a way she'd missed from drinking coffee. The faintest of memories she preferred to block out when all the moments spent drinking tea in that kitchen came flooding back.

'_Chamomile or Earl Gray?'_

'_Chamomile mummy,' Naomi called out from the table, her ankles crossed as she knelt up on the wooden seat._

'_You really are your mother's daughter.'_

_Naomi, at aged seven, chewed on her lip, 'What does that mean?'_

'_It means you're just like me.'_

'_I like being just like you,' Naomi sighed, picking up a piece of freshly made bread and stuffing it into her mouth. 'When can I go on a protest with you?'_

'_When you start secondary school.'_

'_But that's not for another,' Naomi began, counting the numbers out on her hands. 'Four years. That's forever away.'_

_Gina laughed and placed a mug in front of Naomi, sitting opposite with her own cup of tea. They were more alike than she'd ever expected and Naomi's enthusiasm to follow in her footsteps was rather flattering._

'_Forever isn't that long dear,' Gina sighed. 'Before you realise, you'll be eighteen and off at university living your own life.'_

'_Never,' Naomi assured her. 'I'm going to live here with you for always.'_

'_For always? Really? Even when I'm old and gray and you want to get married and have your own children?'_

_Naomi nodded. 'Then you'll live with me and my husband and you'll look after our children while I'm saving the world.'_

'_But how will you save the world if you stay here for always?'_

'_Well maybe I won't stay here for always,' Naomi stated, matter-of-factly. 'But you can come with me wherever I go.'_

_Gina chuckled as she watched Naomi drinking her tea. 'We'll see about that.'_

'I've missed you,' Gina mumbled, her hand coming down across Naomi's.

The sudden contact made Naomi glared at Gina with distaste and hatred. It came out of nowhere and before she realised it, it was gone. If she was honest, she missed her mother. She missed her home and everything in it, even the stupid kettle they used to have that never boiled properly. Feelings overwhelmed her, pushed tears to the surface that she wasn't ready to cry.

'How long are you home for?' Gina asked, thankfully filling the space where Naomi was supposed to say the same thing back.

Naomi chewed on her lip, dug her teeth into the skin. 'I don't know.'

'You don't know?' Gina questioned, looking at her curiously. 'Is it just for a few days? You must have to get back to uni.'

'I don't fucking know,' she snapped, hating herself instantly for her inability to be civil. 'Just, just stop being such a nosy cow.'

'Okay,' Gina nodded, her smile never wavering. It annoyed Naomi, how perfectly happy Gina could appear. Nothing seemed to bother her, nothing made her cry unless it was happy. She loathed her mother's ability to act that way, jealousy fit Naomi like a pair of magic gloves. The same pair that strangled her spirit, her determination and her strength.

Finally she escaped the kitchen and her mother, in order to return to her previous sanctuary. It didn't change, didn't stop being a place she could feel at home even though she hadn't been in it for months. She ran a hand along her desk, knew the line of dust showed how unused the room had become. Gina, for all of her faults, hadn't even set foot in the room except to change the bed sheets after her last visit.

'Fuck,' Naomi cried out, pulling the sheets off the bed in a rage. But it wasn't enough. The bed covers were only the tip of the iceberg as she pushed her hands across the desk, disturbing a pencil tin, papers and discarded socks. Her window sill emptied within seconds. A loud knocking on her bedroom door made her stop. Her breathing became shallow and erratic. Her heart racing along.

'Naomi? Is everything okay?' Gina asked, not opening the door.

'Fine,' Naomi spoke, her voice tiny and useless as she assured her mum that everything was okay.

They both knew it wasn't. Naomi could hear Gina picking her finger nails in the hallway. It was a nervous habit that she only seemed to do when something unsettled her. Naomi waited, hoped she'd leave her be, but then she spoke again.

'I thought maybe we could go out tonight, just the two of us, for Mother's Day.'

'O, oh,' Naomi stuttered, struggling to respond when she realised what day it actually was. 'Maybe.'

The answer was enough for Gina's footsteps to trace back across the hallway and down the stairs. Naomi reached out to the bed, falling against it when the tears overwhelmed her. Wheezing through them, choking back emotion until there was nothing left to do but wrap her whole body around the bedspread where she continued to lie for a while, barely moving, just breathing in and out.

**Please review and maybe I'll make your fanfiction dreams come true...but please tell me those dreams first, hahaha. I have no idea what I'm offering here.**


	3. Chapter 3: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you everyone all over again for the fantastic and beautiful reviews, you lot really do make writing worth it. If anyone is wondering about my sort of abandoned fics, they will get written, I just need to finish this job and hopefully I'll get back on track. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter and I hope you'll review! :-D They really make me grin like a Cheshire cat!**

It Ends Tonight; _Three_

_'Lies will lock you up with truth the only key.'_

The song played out loud across the room and Emily couldn't move until it was over. She'd lied to a lot of people, told them things they wanted to know to make _them_ feel better, yet never contributing to her own need for happiness. Who were they to know any different? They trusted her word, her kind and sensitive nature a reason that nobody ever questioned her. She was the truthful one. Which made it so much harder to face her crimes. Gina didn't deserve it, in fact she deserved it the least of all.

'That was Missy Higgins with The Special Two and before that,' the radio host began, cut short when Emily flicked the power switch. She didn't like music anymore, it got under her skin, sought out the truth when all she wanted to do was hide under a rock and pretend that this, _life_, wasn't happening.

_I'm not deserving of your trust for me right now._

The song replayed in her mind. _Lies_. She was full of lies that consumed her. She didn't want them anymore, wished there was a way to remove them from her life without fucking things up further. Her _parents_, her _friends_, her fucking _twin_ sister. Nobody knew and she didn't know how to tell them.

'Mother's Day dinner is at the Harlow Hotel at 8' Katie's message announced when Emily read it. She'd received it hours ago, when she was still having tea with Gina.

_Guilty_. She felt guilty. She didn't lie, she never used to lie. She kept her sexuality under wraps, but not to hurt anyone, not to pretend to be something she wasn't. She just needed to find out who she was before she could start telling the world. It was different then, so much easier.

'Can't come, sorry,' was her response, two hours later than it should have been. She couldn't go. As much as she missed her sister and her judgemental mother. They still _mattered_ to her.

'What the fuck Ems, it's Mother's Day.'

She didn't reply.

Her bed was warm, the blankets wrapped around her in a cocoon, protecting her from the outside world. Her room, her tiny little room barely bigger than a shoebox was all she had. The evening drew in, darkness outside her small window until her phone began ringing. Messages, calls, all from the same two phones. She stared at her sister's name, at her mother's, wishing that things could be different. _Simple_. But simple had gone away, vanished with age and life's circumstances.

'Fucking hell,' Emily called out, her dozed state disrupted by a low but very loud beat coming from the room next door. She lay there for a while, covering her head with her pillow, attempting to block out the deafening sounds. _Impossible_. In the end she climbed out of her cocoon, wrapped a jacket around her shoulders and braved the cold night air.

She tried to feel lucky, that she'd found somewhere to go. Even if it was college accommodation and she had to pay to do a stupid computer course just to get it. But as she wandered down the streets of Bristol she knew there were people worse off. The man who stood on the corner of her street every night begging passers by for money. She used to hate people like that, her mother always told her they used the money for drugs. He didn't look like a drug addict. So when she passed him she handed over a five pound note. When she reached McDonalds she ordered a Big Mac, a large meal to fill her up for the next day at least.

'Four pounds sixty,' the teenager at the counter asked. She recognised him from college, he'd been in the year below and always spat on the street. He repulsed her. She dug a hand into her pocket, fishing around for all of her loose change which seemed to add up to just two pounds twelve pence. Her heart sank.

'I think I'll have a Happy Meal instead,' she muttered, shame covering her face in a coating of red.

'What kind?' the lad, who she remembered as being called Chris, asked with little feeling.

She completed her order, carried the little cardboard box down the street until she was back in the safety of her room. The music hadn't stemmed, in fact it had grown louder. She ate quickly, ended up leaving half of the straggly chips, before curling back up in bed with the hope of sleeping.

*

Thankfully she managed to sleep through the night, a task that only rarely seemed possible. She'd spoken to Gina about her insomnia, only because she suffered from it too. Once in a while she felt herself too wired to ever fall asleep, she'd text Gina and she'd sit in the Campbell kitchen all night playing dominoes and being taught how to play Poker and Gin Rummy. It filled the void, stopped her growing bored when she ran out of library books. She considered going to the doctor but as she'd discussed multiple times with Gina, they looked at all the other options before handing out drugs. Those options, she imagined, wouldn't include ways to stop the inconsiderate hallmates who liked to stay up all night with music blaring or their voices at a volume children were told off for when they where indoors. It was rare that Emily slept when the music was playing, but after almost two weeks with only a few hours sleep, she knew it had warn her down.

'Gina, are you at home?' Emily asked the mobile phone in her hand, awaiting the answer she didn't really want.

Monday morning usually brought loneliness. Gina worked all day and her computer course didn't start until the early evening. So she went to the college library, filed through the books until she found a couple actually worth reading. She exchanged books faster than some people changed their underwear and on a really bad week, faster than she could clean her own clothes. She was never late with books, she couldn't afford to be.

When she got out of the library the sun was shining. It was colder than she expected in the shade but under the sun's rays and the bright blue sky, it could almost be summer. She hung around the college and cracked open her first book. It was a novel about a woman who had an affair because her life became tiresome. Only the affair had reached the same point. It seemed mildly interesting and though she got through the first few pages, her green fingers were itching. March was a month she usually dedicated her free time to her parent's garden and the nice weather only spurred her on further. But they no longer had a nice garden, or a garden at all. After her dad lost his gym, they also lost the house. They now lived in a pokey flat that she didn't even visit, at least not often. She walked away from the college when a group of new students took up residence not far from her. They played music on their mobile phones and talked so loud that she couldn't focus on reading the words on the page even if she tried.

It was only by accident that she found herself on the other side of town, her feet a little tired and her fingers still fighting her for attention. She looked up from the pavement at the small, yellow house whose only current inhabitant was out all day. A couple of months ago, when she'd 'arrived home', Gina had given her a key. She knew it was for Gina's benefit as much as her own, so she let herself in. The radio was blaring in the kitchen, which made Emily laugh.

'All about global warming, but can't turn off a bloody radio,' she muttered, filling herself a glass with water and carrying it out into the garden. She placed her glass on a small table that somehow maintained its balance despite looking ready to collapse at any minute. She walked around, breathing in the scent of the grass and new flowers as they emerged from their winter beds. She then took out a small trowel from the shed and set about removing weeds that had taken over. As she worked she whistled a tune, couldn't remember the words or if the tune was correct, but continued anyway until she was noting down in her mind the flowers they would plant in the coming weeks in the hope they'd flower by the summer.

'What the fuck are you doing?'

A voice broke her continuous thoughts, a voice so familiar that a shiver ran down Emily's spine and she instantly regretted turning up unannounced. She twisted around, needing to see her face to truly believe she was there. There was no denying it; wet but most definitely blonde hair, perfectly blue eyes and a towel wrapped around her body.

'Emily?'

It wasn't a surprise that Naomi didn't know it was her until she'd turned to face her. Her usually bright red hair had turned drab and dark when she'd run out of money to dye it. She'd told Gina, when questioned, that she'd wanted a change. The two girls shared eye contact, breathing in the same air for the first time in nearly a year.

'Fuck off I'm busy,' Emily responded, turning back to the garden without much more thought.

She heard the back door close, turned to find the spot, where Naomi was stood, empty. It occurred to her that maybe she'd won. Not that it was a game. But she knew the score. If you saw your ex-partner, you can't be the one to walk away first. A smile crept onto her face whilst the garden became a little tidier.

*

'Fucking explain what you're doing here,' Naomi's voice again from the doorway. Emily ignored her, just pulled the hosepipe up and started watering the garden. The lack of rain over the weekend told her the flowers needed some attention and no matter how nice it was to hear Naomi's voice, she didn't fancy transferring her attention, or anger, to her ex-girlfriend. 'Emily, don't fucking ignore me. This is my fucking house, what the fuck are you doing letting yourself in and turning off my radio?'

Turning off her radio? The lack of irony in her arrival left her with a bitter taste. 'I'm tidying up ready for planting summer flowers,' she told her, with a hint of knowing more than Naomi in her voice.

'I could have guessed that, but what are you _doing_ here? This is _my _house.'

Emily rolled her eyes, not stopping what she was doing. 'I know, I didn't realise you were going to be here since you haven't been home in months.'

'How the fuck do you know that?'

'I,' Emily stopped, lowered onto a small brick wall she'd spent a weekend working on with Gina. The cement had dried out too quickly on the first day so they'd ended up with not enough. It took twice as much as the man at the shop said they needed and even then it came out a little odd shaped. But it was individual, unique and there was nothing Gina liked more. 'I'm just helping out, alright?'

'No, it's not alright. You shouldn't be here.'

'And what makes you have any more right than me?'

'It's _my _fucking house.'

'That I've been in more times in the last year than you have.'

'What the fuck, Emily, just fuck off.'

'Fine,' Emily raised an eyebrow, showing Naomi that she was only leaving under protest and no matter what she thought, she may have won the game, but she hadn't won the battle. 'Tell Gina I stopped by.'

'Probably won't, but whatever,' Naomi called after her as she wiped her feet on the mat by the door and closed the garden gate behind her.

By the time she'd walked back across town it was almost time for her computer class. She dug around in her bag for any loose change she'd not taken with her the day before and bought herself a packet of crisps and a bar of Dairy Milk. It wasn't a meal, but she couldn't afford anything more. A traitor to her father's constant health food lessons, she made the rest of the journey across town with her barely filled stomach and an ex-girlfriend on her mind.

**Please review and tell me how your week is going while you're at it!**


	4. Chapter 4: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you everyone for your reviews, they mean a great deal. I know this story is pretty angsty right now, but I promise it won't be like this forever. I just need to get through the crap to get to the good stuff. Lol. I know I've not answered any of the questions you've been having yet, but they too will be answered in time. :-)**

It Ends Tonight; _Four_

Naomi was in her bedroom, again. In the four days since she arrived back in her childhood home she'd spent every waking second there. Or so Gina assumed. When she was at work she didn't know what she did and she had a full time job. Once she'd found an empty Garibaldi packet tucked behind a cushion on the sofa. She'd bought them especially, knew her daughter wouldn't be able to resist her favourite biscuits. The Mother's Day meal hadn't happened. She hadn't expected it to really. She didn't know whether Naomi still drank vodka, or still loved the smell of vanilla. But some things never change and Naomi's moods were one of them. She'd spent the night sat outside her bedroom door just listening. The anger came first, then the tears and after that she seemed to go quiet. Gina would have gone in to comfort her, but knowing Naomi as well as she did, it wasn't the right time.

After four lonely nights wondering when her daughter would talk to her again, really talk to her about the things that mattered, she decided enough was enough.

'Naomi?' she asked, tapping on the door until she gained permission to enter. 'How are you doing?'

'Fine,' Naomi muttered down towards a piece of paper she was writing on.

'I feel like I haven't seen you since you got back.'

'Busy,' Naomi whispered, chewing on her lip and angling her eyes intently at the paper in front of her.

'Ah, assignments?' Gina questioned, stepping closer with the hope of seeing the title.

'CVs,' Naomi responded, her hands slipping over the page defensively.

Gina narrowed her eyes. 'What are you writing it out for?'

'No laptop,' Naomi answered, her replies short and sweet.

'Where's the one we bought you for uni?'

'Sold it.'

'Oh, well you can't send out a handwritten CV.'

Naomi shook her head, clicking her tongue condescendingly. 'I'm going to go to the library and type it up.'

'Okay.'

A thousand questions bombarded Gina, made her doubt her daughter more than she'd ever done in her earlier teenage years. She used to be a confusing jigsaw, like the Wasgij puzzles Naomi thought it fun to buy her for Christmas. She could never figure them out. But like those puzzles, with Naomi, she could at least hazard a guess. Now she was the Impossipuzzles; pointless and tiring because no matter how many times she guessed, she usually came to the wrong conclusions.

'Why do you need a CV? I thought the student loans company gave you enough money as long as you don't waste it on clothes and things.'

'I just need a job, alright,' Naomi snapped, her impatience growing evident.

'And what kind of job are you looking for?'

'Anything that pays, preferably full time,' Naomi responded sarcastically.

'Naomi,' Gina tried, dread hitting her with every word spoken. 'Why do you need a job? What about university?'

'Not going anymore.'

The hours spent on the floor by Naomi's bedroom door had been valuable thinking time. Gina had contemplated every possible reason why Naomi was back. Not only back home for a weekend, but struggling to carry almost everything she owned.

'Nomi,' Gina gasped, lowering herself onto the corner of Naomi's bed, her shock and disappointment escalating in her head. She noted not to let it out through fear of pushing Naomi away further.

'I'm busy, can you fucking leave me alone now?'

Gina sighed, piled her hands up in her lap, contemplating every possibility. 'Are you struggling? Do you need some extra help? Or is it money? I have a bit put away if you need some.'

'I don't want to talk about it.'

'But Naomi, this is your future. We talked about this for years. You were going to save the world.'

Naomi scoffed, a childhood dream appearing clouded by adult eyes. Gina stared at her daughter, couldn't take her eyes off the deep blue portals to her soul.

'What happened?'

'Dreams are for children,' Naomi muttered, turning away, not allowing Gina the privilege of looking her in the eye.

Gina choked on a tear. 'Naomi, I'm worried about you.'

She cleared her throat, shifted in her chair and turned back round until Gina could see nothing but a mask covering her daughter's face. 'I got kicked out. Now can you go? I'm busy.'

Question after question filled her conscious; thoughts, possibilities she didn't want to even consider. She didn't know why she had been kicked out and though all the questions pointed to Naomi for answers, she couldn't say them. Knew that it wasn't the right time. She watched her little girl, her _big girl_, hunched over her desk busily scrawling out the CVs until she closed the door.

*

The message came through when she was boiling a pot. She'd contemplated sending one herself. The lack of contact from Emily was unusual, having been used to exchanging at least half a dozen messages a week. She responded quickly and pulled a second mug from the cupboard. The tea box, as she had now named it, lay open and the selection ready for choosing. She picked out another bag of lemongrass for herself and decided to put a bag of chocolate flake tea in Emily's cup.

When the faint knock on the door came, Gina flicked the switch on the kettle to re-boil the water, grabbed her purse and went to let Emily in.

'Gina, I, I forgot to bring enough money again,' Emily muttered for way of greeting her.

'I'll sort it,' she replied, walking out to the taxi driver and handing him a five pound note.

When she arrived back into the house Emily was already pouring the boiled water into the mugs and placed them on the table. She stood in the doorway for a moment longer than usual, noting the warn out look on her friend's face. Her eyes were red and though there were no sign of tears on her cheeks, Gina couldn't help wondering if Emily had shed a few on the way over. She cleared her throat before walking into the room, sitting opposite her house guest and drinking her tea.

'How's everything going?' she questioned, knowing the answer would be short.

'Fine.'

No question back. Gina always knew when things were at their worst when Emily didn't speak. She stayed silent, drank her tea and stared down at the water mark where her mug had stood before.

'Naomi's home,' Gina noted, watching Emily's head shoot up, her eyes wide with a feeling she couldn't quite place; _fear_? 'She's been home for nearly a week now. Won't talk to me mind, hasn't even come out of her room except when I'm at work.'

'Oh.'

Emily's eyes turned down with a sadness Gina had thought was long gone. It was the way she'd looked before her trip and since returning it had either vanished or she'd become very good at hiding it.

'How was your family dinner?'

'It was okay.'

_It wasnt, _Gina noted, she wondered what had happened, if Emily had even gone.

'How's Katie going?'

Emily's eyes narrowed. 'She's, she's the same as she always is. Doesn't seem to have anyone on the go this week.'

_She did, _Gina knew she did. She'd bumped into her in a shop on the Wednesday after Mother's Day, had asked her what was going on in her life. She had a new boyfriend, they'd been going out for a month. She'd refrained from asking about the dinner because even then she'd suspected that Emily didn't have anywhere to be.

'And what about living with your girlfriend? Lizzie, isn't it? How is that going?'

'Lizzie's fine, it's going okay.'

The thing that made Gina feel the saddest, was that it didn't matter to her if Emily told the truth or not. She just wanted her to be happy. She nodded, finished off her mug of tea and stood up to make more. She didn't ask Emily if she wanted some, just took her cup and opened the tea box. Whilst she chose different bags her eyes lingered on the spot inside the lid that Emily mustn't have realised was there. _Made In China. _She didn't say anything. The first time she noticed it was just after Emily had left and she was making tea for her daughter.

'Tell me a story from your trip,' Gina requested, a feeling of guilt for pushing her for information she didn't expect her to have. But she needed to be sure.

The box wasn't the only thing that made her wonder. When Emily was 'overseas' she'd seen her on the high street, her red hair as bright as ever. It became a regular occurrence for Emily to be on that street at that same time every week. Her hair gradually grew darker, the red naturally growing out until one day she turned up on her doorstep after a brief message announcing her return.

'You look tired,' Gina pointed out, filling only a mug for herself.

'I am a little.'

'How about we go into the lounge and watch a DVD?'

They did. Gina made Emily curl up on the sofa with a blanket, while she sat in the chair. She turned on the television, placed a DVD into the machine then sat down to watch. Within minutes, Emily was asleep.

Emily didn't have insomnia, Gina decided. One day she'd followed her home, just to make sure she was okay. The college accommodation was a surprised.

_No, not insomnia, _she decided. _Just noisy neighbours._

*

At some point in the night Gina fell asleep in her chair. The few hours were quickly disrupted by someone shaking her brusquely awake, she opened her eyes to find two familiar blue ones staring at her.

'Mum, Emily,' Naomi snapped, pointing across at the sofa where Emily lay curled up, still sleeping.

'Put the kettle on,' Gina muttered, stretching her muscles out. The chair wasn't the best sleeping position, she realised.

Joining Naomi in the kitchen, they sat down with a mug of tea each. Naomi tapped her fingers on the table until Gina had sat down, as though she couldn't start the conversation until then.

'I can still hear you from the corner of the kitchen,' she reminded her, sitting down.

'What the fuck mum?!' Naomi began, no introduction to the conversation or good morning. Gina sighed, but waited until she'd finished. 'She's my ex girlfriend, why is she here?'

The look in Naomi's eyes was less of shock and more anger, frustration. 'I thought you'd be more surprised by it.'

Naomi rolled her eyes, making Gina smile at her daughter's usual self shining through the cage she'd created. 'Is that why you did this? Try and get me talking or something? You're a fucking cow sometimes, do you know that?'

'You've told me once or twice before.'

'What the fuck is she doing here again?'

'Again?' the word prompted a shocked look from Gina, she lifted her head to get a better look in her daughters eyes.

'Yes, again,' Naomi snapped. 'She was here last Monday doing something in the garden like it was her fucking house.'

'She must have let herself in, I told her I wouldn't be home,' Gina explained. But her words didn't seem to settle Naomi's angry tone.

'Did you just conveniently forget to mention me?'

'Of course I didn't,' Gina defended herself. 'Not intentionally anyway, I'm not used to having you back.'

The irate look on Naomi's face, the rosy red cheeks and the narrowed eyes made Gina's heart break. This wasn't the smiling, happy daughter she'd grown accustomed to just twelve months earlier.

'Get her out of my fucking house.'

'Don't be so petulant. She's only sleeping.'

'Can't she sleep at her own fucking house?'

'No she bloody well can't, so stop being a child and start acting your age. I didn't bring you up like this Naomi.'

For once Gina rose her voice, let loose with her own frustrating thoughts. Emily needed her help and even though she didn't tell her the truth, that didn't matter. Emily needed someone to keep an eye on her, to make sure she had at least a few decent, hot meals every month. Without her, she suspected Emily would be even worse off.

'Fuck off, I don't need this,' Naomi snapped, standing up and walking out of the house.

Gina let out a long, deep sigh. It wasn't how she wanted her next chat with Naomi to have gone, but she was an adult now and just like with Emily, she had to let Naomi come to her with her problems. No matter how badly she wanted to fix her.

**Please review and put your hand up if you're looking forward to Skins tonight?! :-)**


	5. Chapter 5: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you for the reviews! This chapter is for 'K' and 'madambitch'. Your reviews **_**really **_**made me feel motivated when I really needed that extra push. So thank you. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

It Ends Tonight; _Five_

The days when Emily slept, she could have slept all day. Waking up usually left her feeling worse than when she'd gone to sleep. By the time she awoke, it was morning. Eleven according to her watch. The sun glimmered through the curtain, shining bright lines of light directly at her face. She blinked, rubbed her tired eyes and stared around the empty room. She could vaguely remember arriving at Gina's the night before, remembered talking to her about Naomi and Lizzie. She sighed, wished her memories didn't hurt so much. Gina was long gone, she imagined, would have been at work for a few hours. She contemplated calling her to let her know she'd left, but didn't.

'Fuck,' she called out to nobody when there was movement on the floor above. Her bladder shouted at her to empty it. She couldn't. Not when the only toilet was upstairs. She put her shoes on and left the lounge, hovering in the hallway until she was sure Naomi wouldn't be coming down the stairs. Then she left.

*

Blue flashing lights were the first sign that something was going on. Emily walked towards the entrance of the college accommodation and entered as normal. She walked up the stairs to the first floor before being stopped by a police officer.

'Can't come in here,' she informed her.

'Wh, why not? What's going on?' Emily asked, looking past the woman and a line of police tape.

'There's been an incident. Until we know what happened we can't let anyone inside.'

'What sort of incident?'

'Someone was electrocuted,' the officer muttered, distracted by a second police officer stood behind her. 'I'm going to have to go, find somewhere else to stay tonight. Should have everyone back in here by tomorrow afternoon.'

The feeling of a loss of control brought tears to Emily's eyes. It happened a lot when she was younger; if she was being told off, had made a mistake or someone said something horrible. She'd always hated the way it could make her feel and the sudden rush of feeling made her eyes water. She nodded, wished the police officer didn't have to go, wished she had someone else to talk to. In the end she left the building, carried on walking along the street.

*

It was mostly by accident that she arrived at the small block of flats. She stared up at the second floor window and wished she didn't have to be there. Hesitation left her stood in that same spot for almost twenty minutes until the front door of the building opened. The shock made her jump, rush behind a fence and watch the man and young boy upturn a bike.

'You see this bit here son,' Rob Fitch muttered. 'You have to loosen the screw so that you can adjust the seat. But we can't do that right now. Gotta fix this puncture first.'

'I don't need to adjust the seat.'

'Yes you do. You fell off because your seat was too high kid, you're not that tall yet.'

James rolled his eyes, rubbing a large bruise on his arm. 'But Gordon MacPherson's seat's that high.'

'Gordon is almost a foot taller than you, he needs his seat higher.'

The friendly exchange of conversation between her father and brother left Emily in tears. She leant back against the fence. She missed them. She didn't usually admit it, liked to pretend that everything was fine as it was. But it wasn't. She needed somewhere to stay for the night. She stepped out from beside the fence, walked towards her family, stopping when she heard James shouting out.

'Why, why, why?'

'You're not old enough Jimbo, next year.'

'But I want to now.'

Rob had already turned the bike around, was wheeling it through the door and back into the building. Emily coughed, watched her brother turn to face her but a lack of recognition caused him to follow their dad inside. Emily choked on a tear, wished she had the money to dye her hair back to red. _Maybe then James would know who I am, _she wished. In the end she walked away. Her courage faltered and any sign of being comfortable enough to go into her family home disappeared when she realised she'd have to ring the doorbell.

*

Gina's house appeared in the distance. _There's nowhere else to go, _Emily decided. She walked up to the front door, knocked lightly and waited for Gina to answer it. Unfortunately, the only person standing on the other side of the door was Naomi.

'Oh.'

'What the fuck are you doing here again?'

'I came to see your mum,' Emily admitted, staring down at her feet.

'She's at work.'

Emily frowned. 'But she always finishes at lunchtime on Thursday.'

Laughter brought tears to Emily's eyes, Naomi's voice sending a chill down her spine. 'It's Wednesday.'

The days seemed to roll into one when she couldn't sleep properly. The only day she ever knew which day it definitely was, was a Sunday because the shops were all shut and the streets emptied considerably from during the week.

'Oh, yeah.'

The door started to close in front of her. Emily reached out, pressed a hand against the wood prompting a loud grunting moan from Naomi.

'What the fuck?'

'Please,' Emily cried out, trying to hide the wiping of her tears in a cough. 'I don't have anywhere else to go.'

'You have your own family,' Naomi snapped.

'Please Naomi. Some kid got electrocuted and I can't go back there tonight.'

The blue eyes that Emily had memories of looking so bright and sparkly, smiling at her for months, were now empty and cold. Emily bit the inside of her cheek, chewed on the skin as she forced Naomi to look at her back.

'Fine.'

The staring worked, forced her to back down. Relief. Emily smiled on the inside, despite the tears still dangerously close to falling further.

'But stay out of my way, alright?'

'Okay.'

*

With a mug of tea in hand, Emily carried it up the stairs. She stood outside Naomi's bedroom door, knocked lightly until the blonde appeared on the other side. Naomi looked anything but impressed at being disturbed, her eyes baring into Emily with anger.

'What part of stay out of my way don't you understand?'

'I brought you some tea,' Emily stated, holding the mug out to her.

Naomi's eyes softened a little, accepted the mug with barely a thank you.

'I'm sorry if you're angry that I'm here,' Emily tried.

'Just fucking leave me the fuck alone, alright?' Naomi shouted, placing the drink on her dressed and folding her arms across her chest. 'You have no right to be in my fucking house so stop bothering me and stay the fuck away from me.'

The extreme outburst was the last thing Emily expected. Naomi wasn't happy, she understood that. But the level of anger broke through Emily's regained composure and sent her into a flood of tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Naomi. It was impossible to stop though. She turned away, faced the opposite wall and pawed away the tears. More followed, replacing the others and Emily's shoulders hunched over, shaking.

'Oh fuck.'

A hint of regret sounded in Naomi's voice, but it wasn't enough to make Emily feel better. She continued to wipe her eyes, staring at the wallpaper until a hand landed on her shoulder.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry.'

'Leave me alone,' Emily snapped, shrugging off the hand, which only tightened.

'You're starting to sound like me.'

Taking in a deep breath, Emily turned back around. Her hands cleared the final tears, the feeling that more would follow stemmed slightly. She pressed her lips together, clenched her fists in the hope of keeping them at bay.

'Ignore me, yeah?' Emily nodded. 'I'm just in a bad place at the moment.'

Naomi's words made Emily frown. Gina had said Naomi wasn't talking, she never expected she'd say something so honest to her, of all people. She stared at Naomi, narrowing her eyes until a tiny smile appeared.

'Mum seems pretty happy these days, with you around.' Emily shrugged. 'Look, I'm sorry, okay?'

Emily nodded again. 'Okay.'

'Thanks for the tea.'

It had been a long time since anyone, other than Gina, had been nice to her. Emily watched Naomi's smile, felt her heart thumping inside her chest and her head become cloudy. She missed people. She missed friendships. She missed everything she'd lost since losing Naomi. Her chest heaved in breath, her feet edging forwards until she was closer to Naomi than she'd been in months. A few stray tears slid down her cheeks.

'It's okay,' Naomi muttered, reaching a hand out to wipe the tears from Emily's eyes. The touch brought a few more tears to the surface. No one had touched her face, no one had been that close, except Naomi.

Naomi's eyes narrowed, her smile disappearing until their noses were almost touching. Emily stared at her blue orbs, swallowed a lump in her throat and leant in to kiss Naomi's lips. Consequences far from her mind when she pulled away.

'What was that?' Naomi asked.

But an answer wasn't needed when Naomi kissed her back, their lips colliding with a passion that Emily didn't think would still be there.

'Oh,' Emily muttered into a kiss, tongues massaging each other.

Words weren't needed. Emily pushed against Naomi, her hands sliding under the back of Naomi's shirt, pushing her through the bedroom door. The bed, so familiar, the smell so heart-warming as their bodies landed together. Emily's teeth nibbled along the skin of Naomi's neck, fingers busily working on the clothes they were both wearing until there was nothing left. A burning desire to take control forced Emily to straddle Naomi, her hands pushing against Naomi's breasts and their tongues sliding between each other's lips again. She pushed a thigh between Naomi's legs, wrapped her other one around her back and pulled her on top of her. Passion grew, exploding between them as they rediscovered each other's bodies.


	6. Chapter 6: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you so much to everyone for your reviews. Writing this chapter felt so good, you will not believe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please let me know your thoughts.**

It Ends Tonight; _Six_

The dark hair fanned out across the pillow. Naomi watched Emily's eyes flutter closed, her intense orgasm sending her into a dose. She lay beside her, perched up on her elbow watching Emily's chest rising and falling._ It shouldn't have happened,_ Naomi noted, reaching a hand out to the hair. No more red. It looked tired, just like Emily. She was different now, a different girl who wasn't quite the one she fell in love with a couple of years earlier.

Yet desire and yearning still filled her heart, overflowed by the bucket load as she watched Emily's cute button nose twitch. Her memory, if it served her correctly, reminded her that an orgasm-induced sleep wasn't a deep one and Emily was likely to wake at any moment. She longed to reach out and stroke Emily's cheek with her fingers, kiss her lips, or draw love hearts on her bare shoulders. But she wasn't _her _Emily anymore.

*

The cigarette smoke blew off towards the trees, her pyjama bottoms too thin to contend with the cool afternoon breeze. Naomi regretted her attire, but needed her fix of nicotine before she could move anywhere. _It was a mistake, _Naomi contemplated, a lump forming in her throat, tightening her chest.

'What's going on?' Gina asked from the kitchen doorway. Naomi turned, tucked her lip under her tooth at the shocked look on her mother's face. She shrugged. 'I arrive home and find Emily asleep in _your _bed with nothing on, she was still on the sofa when I got home.'

The action lay out in such few words made it seem all the more real. _It had happened, _Naomi reminded herself. No matter how much she tried to deny it to herself. The lump pushed its way up her throat until tears started to fall. She cried out in sobs, dropping the cigarette into a plant pot and hunching over her knees.

'I fucked up.'

An arm reached around her shoulders, Gina sitting down beside her on the bench. The comforting touch of her mother's arm only made it worse. She cried harder and louder and pushed her face into Gina's neck. The familiar scent of her organic perfume made Naomi miss the life she, all of a sudden, realised she'd stopped living.

'I wish I didn't do that,' Naomi choked on tears, wiping hastily at her eyes.

She stared at her mother for answers, wished Gina could read all of her thoughts. She begged silently for her problems to be fixed. But Gina didn't speak.

'I miss her mum, I miss her so much sometimes. Having her here, it just, I had to kiss her. I had to.'

The arms pulled her closer, tighter into a hold that Naomi didn't ever want to leave. She wrapped her own around Gina's waist, rested her cheek against her chest. _Sometimes it's good to feel like a child again, _Naomi decided.

'I hate myself for doing this to her, I shouldn't have let it happen. I shouldn't have let her kiss me first,' Naomi sighed, muffled by her mother's jacket. 'There's too much I can't fix.'

'It's going to be okay,' Gina finally spoke, stroked Naomi's other cheeks, pushing her hair back against her head.

'I shouldn't have done it.'

'Maybe not, but we can't change what has been done.'

There was nothing she could do, nothing at all and knowing that, somehow made her feel better. Naomi pulled away from Gina's embrace, wiped her eyes on her sleeves and tried to smile.

'Naomi,' Gina began to speak again, holding out her hands and taking Naomi's between them. 'Emily says that she has a girlfriend. I'm not sure if she really does. But please, if it's true, let her be happy.'

There wasn't a lot Naomi could do. The revelation was something she couldn't ignore. She nodded, assured Gina that she would tread carefully. She didn't _want _to get into anything with Emily anyway. _It wouldn't be fair, _she thought.

'Are you coming inside?' Gina asked, patting Naomi's knee as she rose to her feet.

Naomi shook her head, 'I'm going to stay here for a bit. Think about things.'

*

The garden was beautiful, there was no denying that Emily had done an amazing job. Naomi had spent the first sixteen years of her time in that house staring out at an overgrown, semi-dead garden with grass that reached her knees. She didn't play there on her bike, had never sunbathed and very rarely had a barbeque. She lit up another cigarette, breathed in the tobacco until her body returned to a state of calm. _It was peaceful, _she realised, _having a garden full of flowers and plants that grew normally, was peaceful._

The door opened behind her. Naomi turned again expecting to see Gina, but her eyes landed on the now brunette in front of her. _Emily_. Her chest ached for the past, for the Emily she once loved, for the Emily she _still _loved. Her hair suited her, it was a little longer and messier than it used to be. It made Naomi smirk thinking about why it was messier. Until it dawned on her again the mistake they'd made. _We can't go back there._

'It was a mistake,' Emily whispered when she took a seat beside Naomi.

A tightness in Naomi's chest loosened, a weight falling from her shoulders. 'Oh thank fuck for that.'

'You thought it too?' Emily smiled. Naomi nodded.

They sat side by side, watching a little blue tit dance about on the grass. Naomi finished off her cigarette in silence, threw it across the path until Emily's disapproving glare forced her to put it in the bin.

'Thought I was supposed the be the one who cared about the environment,' Naomi rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

Emily shrugged. 'Looks like you've lost your spark to me.'

'Too much has happened. You don't look any better.'

'Same.'

The bird flew across the garden with a twig in its beak. Naomi watched it travel to the top of a tree next door where it was building a nest. _New life. _She wondered if it was a sign.

Naomi heaved a sigh. 'I've missed this.'

'Me?' Emily frowned.

'No, well, yes. People,' she responded. 'I miss having people around that matter.'

'Nobody matter at university?' Emily questioned. Naomi shook her head.

_Except one, _she continued in her head. She wasn't ready to vocalise that yet. She couldn't do that to Emily, nor to herself. She rubbed her thighs, which were suffering from the arrival of the evening. She wondered why she was still out there when she could have been inside. Yet didn't do anything about it.

'I'm not a happy person,' Naomi admitted, recalling the conversation with Emily before they fell in love, when she realised that Emily made her happy. 'I don't want to make life harder for you Em, with your girlfriend.'

The brown eyes, still deep windows into Emily's heart, stared at her with a mixture of confusion and fear. Naomi smiled at her, tried to bring back the warm, friendly Emily she couldn't see in front of her.

'I'm no better,' Emily whispered, pulling her gaze away, looking down at her feet which crossed in front of her. 'I don't have a girlfriend, I've never had a girlfriend, apart from you.'

'Oh.'

Something was changing inside of her that she couldn't control. It seemed to happen a lot. Naomi felt herself relax beside Emily, a stressful feeling that she hadn't realised was there evaporating with her voice.

Naomi scratched her cheek, cleared her throat. 'I don't have anyone, apart from mum. I, I need, I want,' she struggled to finish her sentence.

'A friend?' Emily finished, smiling up at her guardedly. Naomi nodded again.

'I want people in my life again,' Naomi informed her. 'I _need _people. Even if it's just going to the pub once a week. Anything's better than sitting in watching wildlife dramas with mum.'

Emily's lips curled up at the edges. 'You should get her to show you how to play poker, she's really good.'

'My mum plays poker?' Naomi laughed. 'I'd love to see that.'

'We should have a game sometime. I don't really have any money for the pub.'

'Me neither,' Naomi shrugged. 'Cheap bottle of vodka and a bottle of Asda Smart Price coke?'

'Sounds good to me.'

Silence drew over them again. It was comfortable. Naomi leant back against the wooden bench, wondering why she'd never noticed it was in her garden before. Even after being sat on it for almost an hour.

'It's nice.'

'What is?'

'The garden.'

Emily smiled, rested back against the bench. 'Thanks.'

'I'm fucking freezing,' Naomi muttered, rubbing her thighs and standing up. 'Want a cup of tea?'

'No thanks,' Emily replied. 'Think I'm going to stay out here a bit longer. Save us a biscuit though?'

'Sure.'


	7. Chapter 7: Gina

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you to everyone for your lovely reviews! I hope you enjoy this mostly fluffy chapter, just what the doctor ordered after the drama of Skins series four I feel. Please review!**

It Ends Tonight; _Seven_

The stair creaked in the hallway alerting Gina to her daughter's arrival. She didn't move, instead continued to play cards with Emily until a tired looking Naomi appeared in the doorway. She stopped a smile from forcing its way onto her face at the sight of Naomi's hair sticking up at all angles and her eyes barely open.

'Good Morning love,' she greeted, with a usual amount of cheer.

'It's fucking four fifteen, what's so good or morning about it?'

Emily did what Gina hadn't dared, a small chuckle escaping her mouth, to which Naomi sent a death stare. Gina placed her cards face down on the table, watched Emily's expression for a moment before standing up to fill the kettle with water.

'Cup of tea anyone?' she asked, taking three mugs out of the cupboard before either girl responded.

'I need coffee,' Naomi begged, slouching into her mother's vacated chair and taking hold of her cards.

Gina raised an eyebrow. 'No coffee in this house, you ought to have remembered that love.'

'Fuck this house, I want some,' Naomi moaned, holding the hand of cards up to her face.

'Have some tea,' Gina suggested, placing three randomly selected teabags into the mugs and sitting in the spare chair. She stole her cards back from Naomi and turned to Emily. 'I'll raise you.'

'Not again,' Emily groaned. 'I fold.'

She grinned, her success one of several in the very same night. Emily threw her cards face up on top of the pile and picked up the plateful of biscuits she kept by her side. Gina reached out and took half a dozen from her.

'What the fuck?' Naomi asked, watching the transaction. 'You're playing for biscuits?'

'What else is there to play for?' Emily asked, piling up the cards and shuffling them.

Naomi rolled her eyes in her usual sarcastic manner. 'Err, money?'

The kettle boiled and Gina finished making the drinks before sitting back down between her daughter and friend. She watched Emily deal the cards, handing a set over to Naomi, despite her not having asked to play. It was happening a lot lately. One day Naomi appeared in the kitchen eager to join in and though she enjoyed time alone with Emily, what she enjoyed more was to see both girls happy.

'I win!' Naomi grinned after seven hands, more wide awake than before and a second mug of tea on the table beside her.

'Now I've got no biscuits left,' Emily noted with a sigh.

'There there Ems,' Naomi laughed. 'Maybe you'll win them back tonight?'

Emily stretched, pushing her hands outwards above her head. 'Think tonight's a sleeping night.'

'Why don't you stay here?' Gina offered, throwing an empty biscuit packet into the bin. 'That's if your girlfriend doesn't mind.'

'Oh,' Emily frowned. 'Yeah, I'm sure she won't. I'll be here.'

The knowing look between Naomi and Emily was not missed by Gina, she stayed silent until Emily cleared her throat and looked away, her face painted in a shade of redness. She wished she'd tell her the truth, just once. It wasn't the lying that bothered her, it was the fact that Emily was keeping things to herself. She turned to Naomi, wished it was easier with her than it was with Emily. But if she was honest, she understood her less.

'Who's up for some shopping this morning?' Gina suggested, piling the dishes into the sink and running the tap.

'I have no money,' Emily pointed out. 'Erm, gotta pay the rent and stuff.'

'I have no money full stop,' Naomi reminded her.

The water filled the sink part way until Gina switched off the tap and turned around. 'You girls have no idea how to go window shopping, do you?'

The sarcastic roll of Naomi's tongue responded. 'Yeah, if I want to be bored out of my brains and have to dodge all the little old ladies with their trolleys.'

'Oh yes, I forgot you turned into a moody, sarcastic mother-hater before we had chance to do the mother and daughter bonding thing,' Gina sighed. 'Go get ready, we're leaving in an hour.'

*

The reluctance from Naomi was to be expected, but Gina didn't anticipate Emily's own unwillingness to participate. She had hoped the plan to get out of the house would be enough to cheer up her girls, yet neither seemed at all interested in her fun and games. In the end she took them to a clothes shop that she loathed, one of those chain stores that sold the same clothes to every teenager all over the country.

'Is this some sort of joke?' Naomi spat out.

'Pick out three of the worst items of clothing you can find,' she told them. 'You must choose something that can go on your top, something on the bottom and then one other thing, then I want you to meet me at the changing rooms in ten minutes.'

Naomi and Emily looked at each other with more doubt than Gina knew what to do with. She rolled her eyes, watched Naomi and Emily laugh at her impression of her daughter. What they didn't know was that she'd perfected the eye roll long before her daughter was even born.

'What are you waiting for?' Gina asked, pushing the two girls off across the shop floor, before heading in her own direction in search of an outfit.

By the time Emily and Naomi arrived at the changing room entrance, Gina was already raring to go. She had a quick look at their choices then ushered them into the cubicles opposite one she picked out for herself.

'What the fuck are we doing mum?' Naomi shouted, her skirt partway down her legs.

'Just change into the clothes.'

'All of them?' Emily checked. 'At the same time?'

'Yes,' Gina replied, sliding a half-sized top over her head and tugging as the material went down past her breasts.

Once the outfit was complete, Gina opened the curtains and stood in front of the large mirror to admire her handiwork. The lack of noise from the other changing rooms prompted her to demand what was going on.

'I'm not coming out,' Naomi replied.

'It's just a bit of fun love,' Gina called back. 'I can guarantee that neither of you look as bad as I do now.'

'That's what I'm worried about.'

'Christ Naomi, you'd think the Pope was coming to visit the Catholics the way you're carrying on. Now hurry up and come out before someone else comes in and sees me looking like a forty year old chav.'

'Forty year old,' Naomi asked, opening the curtain and stopping when laughter forced her words to dissipate. 'Oh My, Jesus mum!'

Emily's curtain opened and she stepped out to see Gina dressed in a mini skirt, a tiny half sized top and a jacket that looked like it belonged to some female rapper in a gangster movie. Naomi and Emily couldn't stem their laughter, which only made Gina grin.

'What the fuck are you wearing?' Emily asked after the laughter had calmed down, her attention honed in on Naomi's black laced top, bright pink jacket with eighties sleeves and a pair of knee length jeans. The combination enough to make Gina cry with laughter.

'You can fuck off now,' Naomi muttered, covering her face when Gina pulled out a camera and started snapping photographs. 'Take pictures of Emily, she's got the worst one.'

'I think it's quite stylish actually,' Emily joked, posing in front of the mirror in a long, lime green, flowing peasant skirt, a pink and red checked flannel shirt with a pointed Madonna-bra shaped top underneath.

After a number of photographs, too much laughing and a couple of shop assistants looking at them with wary eyes, Gina led her two girls out of the clothes shop and towards a small café where she shouted Naomi and Emily to a drink and something nice to eat.

'It's lovely to see you both smiling again,' Gina pointed out, wiping the crumbs from her face when she finished off her cookie.

'Have you always been this fucking hilarious?' Naomi questioned, her eyebrows raised.

Gina looked back at Naomi, a proud smile on her face. 'Well Naomi, if you'd taken five minutes out of your teenage angst to spend some time with your lonely old mother, maybe you'll have discovered, that actually, I fucking am.'

'Oh fuck,' Emily called out, breaking the relaxed atmosphere and slouching down in her seat.

'Ems, what's wrong?' Naomi asked, looking behind her to what Emily was previously glancing at.

'Shh, don't say my name,' Emily muttered, covering her face with her hands.

Naomi and Gina both continued to search the room until their eyes landed on the brunette standing at the counter ordering a takeaway coffee. They both turned back again, staring at Emily for an explanation, of which she didn't give. Once Katie had left the café, Emily sat back up in her seat with a grin on her face that only sought to worry Gina.

'So, where to next?'

**AN: Has anyone actually done that? Gone into a shop and tried on the worst combination of clothes ever? If not, you should, it's rather quite hilarious!**


	8. Chapter 8: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, expecially Victoria Secrets. Sorry it's taken me a while to update again, I've got a bit caught up with Felt It All Before and my lack of motivation has, yet again, been rather shocking. Please enjoy and review when you've read it, it really helps me to know what you're enjoying or not enjoying about the story!**

It Ends Tonight; _Eight_

The back of Emily's shoes clunked against the stool with every swing of her legs. She twisted her hair around a finger and hummed a song she'd heard in a shop the day before. The light shone in through the large window and in the background a phone began to ring. She listened to Naomi talking to someone on the other end, before the light disappeared and a pair of sparkling blue eyes were staring down at her.

'Ems, do you mind? I'm trying to work.'

'Sorry,' she whispered, letting her feet drop to the metal bar and her hand rest in her lap. 'I'm just bored.'

'You don't have to stay here,' Naomi reminded her. 'Mum got me this job because I wanted to work, a poxy gift shop wasn't my idea of fun, but you don't need to be here.'

'I like it,' Emily smiled, looking around the tiny shop. 'It's got a charm to it, one of those really unique places you only find in strange, far off lands.'

'Like the place you got that box for mum?'

The stool seemed to disappear out from underneath Emily as she tumbled to the floor amongst a couple of cardboard boxes and some gift wrap. Naomi's laughter was unwelcome, but she gritted her teeth and allowed her to help her back to her feet.

'Careful there Ems, don't think the boss would appreciate his new employee's constant guest breaking the stock.'

'No, don't suppose he would,' Emily muttered, straightening out her skirt and walking across the room. 'Maybe I should look at what you actually sell.'

'A customer, fantastic,' Naomi grinned. 'The first one in two hours, I wonder if you'll buy anything.'

Emily turned back, tilting her head. 'You're forgetting how little money I actually have.'

'Guess travelling leaves you penniless,' Naomi noted, unpacking one of the boxes and following Emily across the room.

'Yeah, I guess.'

A bell signalled the arrival of a customer. Emily watched Naomi rush back towards the counter as a short, brunette with large breasts asked her a question. Emily wandered into the back room, a cavern for fairies and other weird and wonderful items. She knelt down beside a box of broken items, noticed the sign that said 'Injuries Fairies Need Loving Homes Too'. She stood back up and carried on browsing the rest of the room when laughter made her lift her head. She walked back through to the main room.

'So my gran wants some weird tea, I've never heard of it and I don't really know where to buy it.'

'We have weird tea,' Naomi replied, an expression on her face that Emily hadn't seen before. She turned slightly, busied herself with a set of postcards on a rack and kept one eye on the two of them.

_Flirting. _As the conversation went on, Emily realised that Naomi was flirting with her. She tried to push away the feeling of jealousy but when the girl had purchased her items and left, she just stared at Naomi with her mouth partially open.

'What's wrong?' Naomi asked, raising an eyebrow and chewing on her lip the way she used to when sharing a conversation with Emily. She shook her head, forced a grin onto her lips and walked back to the register.

'What time do you finish? I thought we could go halves on a bottle of cheap vodka and go back to yours.'

'Why don't we go back to yours?' Naomi asked. 'I'm sick of my house, mum's always there and I like spending time with you, just the two of us.'

'I don't, I don't think that's a good idea,' Emily muttered, turning her back to Naomi and picking up a handmade book.

Naomi barely accepted her answer. 'Why? Where do you even live? Mum seems to think you live with a girlfriend, but you don't have one, right?'

'No, I don't have a girlfriend. I live on my own.'

'So that's why you have no money,' Naomi responded. 'Sounds expensive if you're not a student.'

'Yeah.'

'Your place then?' Naomi pushed, unpacking the boxes again. Emily crossed paths with Naomi, helped her to unpack the items.

'Okay, I suppose.'

*

Roundview College came into sight. Emily watched Naomi cautiously as they walked closer to the student accommodation. She commented on the state of the college, how it didn't look any different to when they'd left, except for the eight foot steel fence around the grounds. Emily's heart was thumping in her chest so loud that she had to keep telling herself Naomi wouldn't be able to hear it.

'Always wondered what it must have been like for Cook living in that place,' Naomi muttered, staring up at the accommodation.

There was nothing Emily could say to respond to that, so she stayed silent. They carried on walking along the outskirts of the building until they reached the front door. Naomi didn't until she realised Emily wasn't following her.

'Come on Ems.'

'Erm, we're here,' she stated, glancing down at her feet and avoiding Naomi's eyes.

'I know where we are, this dump. Lets go back to you,' Naomi stopped talking when Emily held up her Roundview accommodation pass. She moved closer, tugged it out of Emily's hands and didn't speak again.

Once they reached Emily's room, she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the bed. She didn't dare look at Naomi again, just curled up in the corner and waited until she sat down beside her. She watched her screw off the cap of the vodka bottle and gulp some down.

'Christ.'

'No good?' Emily whispered, warily.

'Not the vodka Emily, Jesus, you're living at college.'

'Yeah.'

'Why the fuck didn't you tell me?'

Emily took a deep breath, lifted her eyes up to meet Naomi's. She expected anger, frustration maybe, but all she got was worry. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

'I didn't tell anyone.'

'I'm not anyone Emily,' Naomi snapped, before retracting her statement. 'I mean, I wasn't.'

Neither of them spoke. Emily reached for the bottle and took a long swig, enjoying the feel of the liquid burning down her throat to distract her from the tension in the room. She dropped it onto the bed between them and clutching the covers tightly in her fingers.

'Do your family know?'

'No.'

'Emily,' Naomi tried.

'So,' Emily interrupted. 'Tell me about university, is it all it's cracked up to be?'

'Fuck you,' Naomi laughed. 'You know I got fucking kicked out.'

'You never did tell me why.'

'And I'm never going to.'

Emily raised an eyebrow and moved herself to the edge of the bed. She picked up the bottle again and sat down on the floor in the middle of the room. Naomi followed her, removed her shoes and sat down opposite her.

'Truth or dare?'

'Are we thirteen again?' Naomi laughed, before answering with, 'Truth.'

'Have you been with anyone after me? Male or female.'

'I have.'

The answer, though expected, shocked Emily. She wanted to ask more, but she didn't want to push her luck. Instead she handed the bottle over to Naomi and stated her desired 'truth.'

'Have you? Any exotic international women take your fancy?'

'No, no one.'

The surprise in Naomi's eyes was even more unexpected, Emily watched her carefully, analysed her expression for hint of anything. But Naomi's face returned to normal and handed Emily back the bottle.

'Are we gonna drink this or just sit here chatting? Truth.'

'How many and male or female?' Emily asked, opening the bottle and handing it to Naomi.

'Two, both girls,' she replied, taking a swig and handing it back. Emily didn't want to look at Naomi, but her eyes forced her to look up. She looked deep into her orbs and tried to disguise the disappointment she felt.

Emily stared at her, challenging her. 'Truth.'

'On a scale of one to ten, how jealous are you?'

'How jealous?' Emily asked, frowning. 'Jealous of what?'

'How jealous are you that I've been with two girls after you.'

'I'm not, I, I've,' Emily tried, but the words didn't seem to form on her lips. Instead she shook her head. 'Did you love either of them?'

'Who said I was going for truth?' Naomi asked, Emily simply raised an eyebrow. 'Love, I don't think either. Not really.'

'Did you have sex with them?'

'It's my turn,' Naomi reminded her, but answered anyway. 'Both.'

'Why?'

Naomi stared at Emily, 'Why what?'

'Why did you sleep with them?'

'What do you mean why? I wanted to.'

'Did you feel scared?' she asked, the need for answers taking over her ability to let Naomi ask questions back.

'No.'

'Did they freak you out as much as you did with me?'

'What? Emily,' Naomi frowned at her, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

'How many times did you sleep with them?' she muttered, knowing it was too much, that the questions were too far. 'Did they fall in love with you?'

'Emily stop.'

She did. She stopped talking, her mind spinning with all of the things she didn't want to know, but had found out anyway. She lay down, stared up at the ceiling and closed her eyes in an attempt to block everything out. Naomi took the bottle from her arms. She wanted to protest, but couldn't.

'Why would a box made in China come from some far off unique shop?' Naomi asked, laying down beside Emily.

'What?'

'The box you gave mum, it's not from some little shop in some other country. It's some cheap Chinese production, probably from a shop on the high street.'

The accusation pushed Emily out of where she felt comfortable. She wished she could tell Naomi to mind her own fucking business, but she'd pushed her first and this was her punishment. She didn't move, just stayed where she was and blinked back a number of tears.

'So I lied, she doesn't know, don't fucking tell her, alright?'

'She knows.'

'Thanks a lot Naomi,' Emily snapped, sitting up. 'Thanks a fucking lot.'

'I didn't tell her. I caught her staring at the lid one day, she didn't say anything either if that's what you're thinking. When she'd gone I looked. Why would you lie about something like that?'

'Why would you always be so horrible to a mother that actually cares about you?'

Naomi took a deep breath and ignored the question. Emily watched her breathing, watched her staring up at the ceiling. She took the bottle and drank as much as she could in one go, before lying back down.

'Remember when you asked me what lesbians do?' she whispered, trying to return the conversation to a better place, a better time.

'Course, all that talk of oils and salad made me hungry.'

Emily laughed, turned onto her front and pushed away the bad feelings that had come up earlier. She sipped the vodka again and wished it wasn't such a small bottle. She knew it wouldn't last the night.

'Have you ever tried anything else?'

'Like what?' Naomi asked, sitting up against the bed.

Emily shrugged, 'I don't know. Anything we didn't try.'

'I tried a lot.'

'Any brogues and strap-ons?'

They caught each other's eyes, a laughter shared between them. 'Oh sure,' Naomi nodded, sarcastically. 'Every fucking day.'


	9. Chapter 9: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you to everyone for reading this story and especially for all of the lovely reviews. I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I was surprised by where I took this so I hope it's okay. Please review!!!**

**Lilice&Skins****, thanks you for the wonderful review! It was really nice to read. I do have Facebook but I don't really go on there very much, but I do have Twitter. There are lots of Skins fans on Twitter. There is a link to my Twitter in my profile on here!**

It Ends Tonight; _Nine_

_Bored. Tired. Depressed. _Naomi rattled off all of the things she was feeling, tried to validate them in the hope it would help push them aside. She wanted to go home, curl up under her duvet and ignore the world around her. She couldn't.

'How much are the books made of shit?'

'What?' she asked, glaring at the customer standing in front of the till.

'Those books that say they're made of shit, how much are they?'

'The prices are on them,' she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Once the customer had left Naomi found herself under the watchful eye of her boss. She stared back, silently watching him until he moved across the room towards her.

'Naomi,' he spoke calmly. 'Your mum told me that you could do this job, that maybe you'd be sarcastic at times, but you were a hard worker.'

'I am.'

'Being rude and unhelpful to the customers is not what we do here. We're a peaceful place.'

'He was a fucking idiot.'

'That's besides the point. We don't talk to the customer like that, even if they are an, idiot.'

Sighing, Naomi picked at her cuticles, anything to distract herself from feeling like a worthless school kid getting into trouble. 'What do you want me to do about it? Go after him and fucking apologise?'

'No. Just be nicer next time, please. Maybe you should take your break, get some fresh air and come back ready to greet customers with a smile.'

She took his advice, walked around the nearby shops, ate a bar of Fairtrade chocolate then returned to the shop. She went to the bathroom, sat on the closed lid and tried to compose herself ready to start the afternoon. She rummaged through her bag in the hope of finding her cigarettes when she found something she didn't even realise she still had. _Speed. _She contemplated the possibility.

'You don't need it anymore Naomi,' she tried to tell herself, but she didn't really feel like listening. She turned the wrap over in her fingers until her conscience lost out to her downward mood. She opened the wrapper, licked a finger and ran it across the powder, before running it along her gums. She thought of eating sherbet as a child, how she'd do the same thing, not realising how similar it was to taking drugs. It tasted better too.

There was already a drumming in her chest. Naomi could feel her heart rate speeding up and her breathing become more rapid. She stared into the mirror as she washed her hands, glanced up at her eyes which had yet to change. She realised the mistake she'd made, what if her boss guessed? What if he knew she'd taken something? She rubbed her eyes and walked out into the shop, forcing a grin onto her lips.

'Right Steve, I'm ready,' she announced, chewing on her lip, following where his hand pointed and stopped by a woman browsing the relaxation music.

'Is there anything I can help you with?'

The afternoon went surprisingly well. Naomi chatted and joked with customers, smiled all to often and managed to get away with only partially enlarged pupils for most of the two hours she had left to work. Before leaving she noticed the heavens open outside. She considered her options; waiting, running to the bus station, calling a taxi.

'Fuck it,' she called out, opening the door and walking out into the downpour. The rain instantly soaked through to her skin. It didn't matter. She suspected the speed was the only reason she was walking around in the rain, her high living on long past the second half of her day. She reached into her pocket for her phone.

'Emily,' she squealed. 'My house, come to my house now!'

'Alright,' Emily replied, laughing. 'But it's raining.'

'So?'

'So I can't afford to get the bus.'

'Fuck the bus Ems, it's only rain. Get fucking soaked, I'll have a towel and a change of clothes ready for you when you get here.'

'Naomi.'

'There's no such thing as no Emily,' she informed her. 'Remember what I said when you wanted me to do blowbacks?'

'Not really?'

'Everything once. So fuck the rain Emily, get wet.'

'What's with you?'

_She knows. _She shook her head, water flying off her hair in all directions. Regret forced her into a state of panic, she ran her tongue around her mouth, wished there was a way she could take back the last few hours.

'Nothing,' she tried to defend herself. 'Nothing's with me. I'm fucking walking on water, or in water, but that doesn't matter. Come on Emily, just come to my house.'

'What the fuck? Have you been drinking?'

'Just fucking come over, alright?' she snapped, pausing on the path for an answer from Emily.

'Fine, fuck it, right?'

'Exactly, fuck it!'

*

By the time Emily arrived the sky was full of thick, black clouds and the early evening appeared darker than it was supposed to. Naomi opened the door and threw a towel at Emily, leaving her alone to get changed in peace. She made some tea in the kitchen and when Emily joined her, placed a mug down on the table.

'Thanks.'

'Hurry up with your tea,' Naomi muttered, tapping her foot on the floor and watching Emily avidly. She was bored, again, only this time it was because she wanted to do something instead of sitting around drinking tea. Emily ignored her and continued to drink.

After a while, impatience growing, Naomi turned on her CD player and put the volume up high. She moved around the kitchen, reached out to Emily's arms and pulled her to her feet. Her little side smile appeared and Naomi moved up against her, dancing along to the beat.

'What's with the party?' Emily asked when a song finished. She sat down and Naomi watched her, she wasn't done, wasn't anywhere near done.

'Want to enjoy myself,' she informed her. 'Come enjoy yourself too.'

'I'm tired, I just walked a couple of miles in the rain.'

'So?'

Naomi held her arms up and shrugged, forcing Emily into a staring competition. The room was lit up by the kitchen light, but outside the windows it was getting darker. Naomi reached a hand out to Emily's hand and tried to pull her back up to her feet, the music continued to play around them. Emily tried to resist, eventually giving in until Naomi had her arms on her hips and they were dancing together again. Their eyes connected, their bodies moving closely together.

Emily suddenly frowned, her eyes staring deeper into Naomi's. 'What have you taken?'

'What the fuck Emily?' Naomi snapped, stepping back, colliding with the fridge. 'Why the fuck do you think I've taken something?'

'You're acting strange, your pupils are dilated.'

'Fuck you.'

'Thanks a-fucking-lot,' Emily sighed, sitting down. 'You're fucking wasted, don't act like you're not.'

Naomi rolled her eyes, panic rising up inside her chest. She didn't want Emily to know, she didn't want anyone to know. 'I have a cold, that's all. Doesn't mean I'm automatically high.'

'You fucking are Naomi, don't lie to me.'

'I'm not.'

'Yes you are.'

'Fuck. Off,' Naomi cried out, walking out of the kitchen and into the lounge.

She needed to be alone. She sat down on a chair and tried to focus on calming down, but she was too worked up. Eventually Emily followed her, sat down opposite and didn't take her eyes off her.

'I thought I told you to fuck off.'

'Well I didn't want to fucking listen Naomi, what the fuck is wrong with you? You've been so depressed and shit lately and now all of a sudden you're acting like the life and soul of the party. Excuse me for worrying about you.'

'Get to fuck Emily.'

'No, you get to fuck,' Emily called out, standing up and walking out of the room.

Naomi stood up, about to follow when all of the lights went off, the music silenced. She stopped, whispered Emily's name and moved across to the window carefully. She glanced out just as the sky lit up and a clap of thunder boomed above them. No streetlights were on, no lights from other houses.

'Emily fucking get back in here.'

'Not when you're being such a fucking bitch,' Emily called back.

'There's a power cut, I fucking hate the dark, get back in here.'

Emily's voice grew louder, a shadow appearing in the doorway. Naomi watched her walk across the room. 'You admit that you've taken something, or I'll leave.'

Words escaped her, she tried to speak but she didn't know what to say. She just watched Emily's silhouette standing there, could feel her eyes watching her back, until eventually she started to walk out of the room.

'Don't go, I'm stoned, I'm fucking stoned. Is that what you wanted me to say? Fuck Emily, I fucking hate this.'

'Fucking hate what?' Emily whispered, walking back to her.

'Speed. I hate it. I hate the way it makes me feel.'

'Why do it then?'

'Can we do something about the light?' Naomi begged, her voice small and weak compared to what she wished it would be.

A search of the kitchen draws, Gina's bedroom and the bathroom lead to sixteen candles surrounded the lounge in light. Naomi sat down on the floor, her back against the sofa as she hugged her knees. She considered all the things she'd locked up inside, the things she didn't want to share, the things she'd already had to.

'Can't boil any water, so I found us some milk,' Emily muttered, handing her a glass and sitting down beside her. Naomi drank the liquid silently, wanted to tell Emily she hated milk on its own but couldn't be bothered. 'Why speed?'

The questions began. She'd expected them to start up eventually, she just didn't realise it would be that quick. She tried to laugh, but it came out as a nervous chuckle. 'The last girl I was with, she, she really liked it. She was, she was addicted.'

'Oh.'

Naomi searched for the disappointment in Emily's voice, wished she'd hate her as much as she hated herself. But none came. All she heard was curiosity, confusion and the same amount of hope she'd always remembered Emily having.

'I found some in my bag today, I was having a crap day, so I took it. Satisfied?'

Emily sighed heavily. 'Don't go back to being a bitch Naomi, I worry about you.'

'You don't need to worry about me anymore Emily, we're not together. It's not your job.'

'No,' Emily mumbled, silence stealing the end of the word and bathing them in it, until Emily spoke again. 'But I do.'

'I'm fine. You don't need to.'

'Was she an addict before you met her?'

'I don't know, we were friends for a while and then one night a group of us went out and we got together. After that she offered me some and I, I said yes.'

One of the candles flickered differently, like it was about to blow itself out. Naomi watched it dancing in the silence, moving to an invisible wind. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but it was just a little too far out of reach.

'Naomi, what happened? Why did you get kicked out on uni?'

'I don't want to talk about it,' she whispered monotonously, chewing on her lip to stop tears from falling.

'Will you ever?'

'I don't know.'

'Did you get addicted too?'

'No.'

'If you did, you can tell me.'

'I didn't fucking get addicted Emily,' Naomi shouted, anger coursing through her veins and making her want to scream. She clenched her fists, tried to stem the agitation in her come down. She wished for the high to come back, the moment where nothing else mattered but feeling happy and enjoying life. 'Just her, just…her.'

'I'm sorry,' Emily replied, resting a hand on her arm.

'Yeah.'

She turned her head to Emily's, rested a hand over Emily's fingers. She missed her touch, anyone's touch. She missed it so much that she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She didn't know why she was crying. She reached her hand out to Emily's face, edged a little close and brushed her lips with her own. She wanted to feel close to someone again, anyone, just to hide how low she really felt.

Emily stared into her eyes when they pulled away. 'Oh.'

Naomi chewed on her lip, forced Emily to continue staring onto her face as they just sat there looking at each other for a while. A number of questions flashed across Emily's face, disappearing almost as quickly as they arrived. She wanted to ask her what they were, but knew she'd probably hate to answer them all. Instead she leant back in and kissed her.

'Just the power cut, right?' she asked, forcing her lips to curl.

Emily nodded her head, her eyes narrowing in confusion. 'Yeah, course.'

It was a fumbled mess of hands clawing at skin, lips moistening breasts and backs arching in the dark. Naomi let her hands guide her across the body she remembered all too well, not once asking for permission in her actions or worrying about going wrong. She took steps that she'd taken many times until their bodies reacted solely to each other's touch and they landed together, arm in arm, in the middle of the lounge. Naomi's head rested beside Emily's ear, her gentle breath slowing until sleep overtook her tired body. Naomi stared at her under the candlelight. She tried to picture all the times she'd slept with the two other girls, how clumsy and difficult it had become to share something so intimate. She remembered it all going wrong multiple times, her fingers tensing up at the worst possible moment or her tongue deciding it didn't want to cooperate. She was reminded of every time she'd been with Emily and how nothing mattered but the person in front of her, the girl now sleeping in her arms. And it was in that moment that she realised, that she opened her mouth and whispered into Emily's ears the one thing she'd never quite understood before.

'It's never just anything with you.'


	10. Chapter 10: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you everyone for the reviews! Sorry it's been a couple of days since an update, I've been feeling a little unmotivated. Here's the next chapter, please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

It Ends Tonight; _Ten_

A smile was all Emily could see when she woke up. The soft curve of Naomi's lips, her eyes still closed. Emily watched her sleeping, tried to imagine what could happen when she finally woke up. For now they were in limbo, in a space between sleeping together and everything that could come next. She considered every other time they'd had sex when they weren't actually together. The first time Naomi had been scared, she'd fled, even after Emily begged her to be brave. Then the week before the Love Ball; the memory still haunted Emily because it was the moment she thought things could change, that split second when Naomi moved from wanting to run further away to kissing her right there in the college corridor. And then they officially got together, proclaimed their love and lived for several amazing weeks as girlfriends. Until Naomi left. After her return she knew it was a case of them never having gained closure on their relationship. Emily hadn't had chance to move on and though Naomi had, the fact they ended up back in each other's arms made Emily wonder just how far she'd moved.

'Morning,' Naomi whispered, clearing her throat.

The tiny morning voice of Naomi forced Emily to look at her, to take her attention away from her face as a whole and stare into her pupils. Two piercing blue eyes that always had the ability to melt her heart and make her want to tell Naomi everything she loved about her.

'Hi.'

Neither of them spoke, they just lay there staring at each other until Emily found the courage to reach out a hand to Naomi's face. She wanted to be sure it was real, to wrap her fingers around her cheek and dig the tips gently into her skin. She loved her. She'd tried to ignore the feelings, to act like friendship was enough. It was enough, until that moment when everything changed again.

'I didn't go travelling Naomi,' she whispered, Naomi's existence the key to everything locked up inside of her. She pulled her hand back, reclaiming it as she completed her revelation. 'I haven't even left Bristol.'

Naomi didn't talk, she just continued to stare until Emily finally looked away. She didn't want to feel ashamed but she did. She stared down at Naomi's naked breasts, focused upon the love bite now festering on the side of her mound of flesh. She longed to touch it, to press her fingers against the bruise she had created. A hand lifted her head, forcing her gaze back up to Naomi's face.

'That doesn't matter to me Emily.'

A huge weight that she hadn't realised had been on her shoulder seemed to disappear. She let her lips curl at the edges, suspected that the extra pair of hands, Naomi's hands, were helping her carry the load.

'I hope you're not expecting me to share too though,' Naomi mumbled. 'I'm not, I'm not ready.'

She shook her head, reached her hand out to Naomi's face again and ran her fingers along Naomi's neck until they stopped on her bare breast.

'It's not just anything, is it?' Emily sighed, edging closer to Naomi until she could almost reach out and kiss her without moving. Instead she stayed where she was, her eyes trained on Naomi's, frequently lowering to the lips she'd been staring at for a while.

'The past, none of it matters, you know!?' Naomi finally spoke, clearing her throat and chewing on her lower lip. 'The most important thing is now.'

'I agree,' Emily said, tucking her fingers into Naomi's hair and around her cheek. 'But you will talk to me, eventually?'

'Yes, eventually.'

Two pairs of lips joined in passion, in desire until their hands were retracing the steps across each other's backs, shoulders and hips. Emily responded to her touch, relaying her emotions through the soft kisses she placed along Naomi's collarbone. She pulled her towards her, lifted her by the touch of her hand until they were panting beside each other once more.

'We can't do this Emily,' Naomi sighed, pulling out of Emily's embrace and moving across the room. Everything Emily had hoped was about to happen quickly torn away until she was left speechless, tears hovering on the surface.

She barely managed to speak. 'Why?'

'I don't want to hurt you again,' Naomi tried, staring back at her with as much desire as Emily knew her own face portrayed. Only laced with Naomi's desire was guilt, fear and everything Emily thought had vanished since her return.

Reaching out a hand to Naomi's arm, Emily gasped when Naomi pulled it away. 'Don't do this again Naomi. I can't handle this again.'

'I'm not,' she promised. 'Until I'm ready to be honest with you, I don't want to hurt you.'

'But this is hurting me Naomi.'

'I'm sorry.'

The words lingered there, no expectations surrounding them, just fear and assumptions that everything wasn't going to be as perfect as it had been just moments earlier. Emily swallowed tears in an attempt to rid the feelings that ate her up inside. She didn't know what to say, or how to say it, so she just sat there silently hoping that something would happen.

'Naomi,' a voice called, the front door opened and the tension was broken by the arrival of Gina. She entered the lounge, her eyebrows raised at the scene in front of her. 'Sorry I didn't get home last night, I tried to call but didn't get any answer. Glad you weren't alone.'

Naomi slipped a t-shirt over her head and wrapped her arms around her chest as she stood up and walked towards the door. 'I'm going to have a shower.'

Once Naomi had gone Gina perched on the edge of the sofa, her worried expression giving Emily no rest. 'This is cosy.'

Words escaped her again, she didn't know how to explain what had happened let alone what hadn't. Instead she opted for the easiest option. 'It was just the power cut.'

'It's not just the power cut,' Gina noted. 'It's never just anything with you two.'

The reminder caused the tears to escape from Emily's eyes, her face breaking up with all of the feelings she couldn't make sense of. She felt ready to burst, Naomi's ability to unlock her innermost thoughts tore her apart. She didn't want to say them to just anybody, she wanted to say them to Naomi. She stared up at the only other person who could support her and within seconds her body was being enveloped into a hug.

'I miss my mum,' she finally cried out, realising something she hadn't even expected was there, hiding behind everything else. She pushed her face against Gina's shoulder not caring that her tears were making a mess of her shirt. She needed the comforting touch of a mother, even if she wasn't the one she longed to be held by. At least it was one who wanted to hold her.

'I know,' Gina mumbled, rubbing her back and muttering comforting messages. She clung to the sides of her jacket, gripping on for life as she let out all of the pain and anguish she thought she'd disguised.

'I don't have a girlfriend,' she cried, her secrets tumbling out.

'I know.'

'I didn't go travelling either.'

'I know.'

'I'm sorry.'

'It doesn't matter.'

It didn't matter. Nothing ever mattered to Gina. Emily continued to cling to her, wished that she could have the same close relationship with Jenna. It didn't surprise her that Gina knew the truth, she hadn't expected it, yet when it came it felt like she'd always known.

'But I lied to you, I lied.'

Gina cupped her face, wiping her tears from her cheeks with her thumbs and staring into her brown orbs. 'Your happiness, your safety, that's the main thing, okay?'

'I need to go,' Emily pulled away and stood up quickly, wiping her tearstained eyes and stepping into her skirt. She straightened her t-shirt out around the edge of it. She hovered in the doorway, wondering why Gina never fought her desire to do things. She brushed the thoughts aside, whispered a thank you and left the house.


	11. Chapter 11: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed, I hope you've been enjoying this story and I'd love to know your thoughts on the next chapter. Please review and tell me, they really make my day! :-)**

It Ends Tonight; _Eleven_

The shop was quiet, the sun shone persistently through the large window and directly into Naomi's eyes. She continued cleaning the window display, squinting until she admitted defeat and slumped down on a chair behind the counter. She heaved a sigh, staring around the empty shop wishing she'd brought a book with her. She closed her eyes, pictured the lake she'd once gone to with Emily, tried to remember the birds singing and the smell of the flowers blooming. _Heaven_, she remembered. It was beautiful. When she opened her eyes, a pair of chocolate brown ones were staring back laced with all of the negative emotions under the sun. It took a moment to realise it wasn't just a continuous part of her reverie but Emily Fitch stood in front of her with tears in her eyes.

'Fuck,' she cried out, standing up and staring at her. 'What's wrong?'

'I shouldn't have come,' Emily noted, changing her mind and walking towards the door. Naomi reached out a hand and stopped her, pulled her back towards her until she could wrap her arms around Emily's shaking body.

'We're friends, right?' Naomi asked, realising her bad choice of words when Emily's grip loosened around her waist. She carefully reworded what she wanted to say to avoid upsetting her further. 'Friends first, everything else later.'

'Yeah,' Emily cried, clinging to the sides of her clothes and pushing her face into the crook of Naomi's neck.

The close contact caused Naomi's mind to wander for a few seconds, until she pulled it back and focused on rubbing the space between Emily's shoulder blades. She stroked her hair from her face and held her there until Emily eventually pulled away.

'Are you ready to talk now?' Naomi whispered, wiping a few stray tears from under Emily's eyes. She nodded into her touch, reached out and grasped for Naomi's hand. She gave it her, allowed her to pull it towards her and use it as comfort. Naomi squeezed her fingers around Emily's hand and let her lips curl up briefly. How could she make so many mistakes with the same person? Not just anyone, _Emily_. The one who deserved the world and everything in it. She shook her head, pushed her doubts and regrets aside the moment Emily started to speak. She needed to be there for her, after everything, she owed her that.

'I went home.'

'The college or,' Naomi began, trailing off as Emily interrupted.

'Home. To my parents.'

A strong sense of foreboding hit Naomi square in the chest until she felt her ability to breath dwindle severely.

'What did they do?'

'Nothing,' Emily mumbled, staring down at her fingers, picking at the cuticles to distract herself. Naomi reached out and took one of Emily's hands, holding it firmly between them. 'Katie was the only one at home.'

'What happened?'

'I got as far as the door, she was about to leave to go to work. I asked her if anyone was in, if I could talk to them and her. She shot me down, she said that, she tried to tell me that I didn't have any right being there. She seems to think that because I blew them off for Mother's Day that I don't have a part of the family anymore.'

A protective instinct kicked in and Naomi clenched her fist. 'I'm going to deck her fucking face in.'

'No,' Emily sobbed, her tears returning in full force. 'She was just being Katie.'

'Yeah, a royal bitch.'

'Naomi.'

The sad eyes drew Naomi into the pain Emily was feeling. Her heart ached for Emily until she couldn't stop herself pulling her into her arms again. She apologised for Katie, told her she'd wish those worries away for her if she could.

'Doesn't work like that, does it?'

'It should. I'm sorry Emily, I'm a complete tit. I've always been a complete fucking tit. Why do you keep hanging around? I only make things worse.'

Emily shook her head, her hands wrapping around Naomi's cheeks. She stared into her eyes, wondering where the innocent Emily eyes had gone that she had once fallen in love with.

'You're the one thing right now that makes everything better.'

Their lips joined, Emily's fingers spread out around Naomi's cheeks. She reached up and pressed her hands on top of Emily's. A couple of tears fell from her eyes and their mouths connected in a brief kiss that said more than either of them had ever found the words for.

'I fucking love you Emily,' Naomi called out, kissing her again before wrapping her whole body around her. A desire to protect her hit Naomi harder until Emily was pulling away and they were kissing again, firmer. Their tongues joining them in a passionate embrace that left Naomi gasping for breath. She stepped back, a smile spread across her face.

'I'm taking you out.'

'You are?'

'I am. Friday night, me and you are going out. I'll pick you up from the spare bedroom at seven.'

Emily frowned. 'The spare bedroom?'

Resting her hands on Emily's hips, she rested her forehead against her. 'I don't want you living in that shithole any longer. You Anomaly need to Emily. Not when you know a family that likes to take in waifs and strays.'

'I'm a stray?' Emily laughed.

'Only the best stray! Like the Tramp from Lady and the Tramp.'

'I can't Naomi, it wouldn't be fair on you or Gina.'

'Are you joking Ems? It was Gina's idea. She wants you living with us as much as I do.'

'Okay.'

'Emily?'

'Yes?'

'I want Friday to be about enjoying ourselves. I want everything that's happening for us at the moment and all of our past to piss off. For one night.'

'I'd like that,' Emily smiled weakly.

Naomi didn't take her eyes off Emily's. 'Then on Saturday I want to tell you everything.'

'Oh.'

'I don't want to do this, with you, without you knowing the truth. What I said earlier, it's how I feel Em. I don't want to break your heart. I couldn't forgive myself if I hurt you any more than I already have.'

'Okay.'

*

Friday arrived. Naomi disappeared into her bedroom to get ready, arguing with her mother when Emily had the hairdryer and complaining about the lack of hot water when the shower was free. None of that mattered though when Emily opened the door to the spare room and she was left speechless at Emily's knee length skirt and low cut top. The outfit was simple, nothing too unusual for Emily but it pushed Naomi's sexual appetite from 'it would be nice' to 'need to rip the clothes right off her back'. She chewed on her lip in an attempt to ignore her body fighting her for a chance to quench its desire.

'You look amazing.'

Emily looked at her, her eyes fluttering coyly. 'Thanks. You look great too.'

'You ready?'

Naomi reached for her hand, her body screaming at her when Emily reached over to pick up a jacket giving her a perfect view down her top. She nibbled on the edge of her lip, hoping she wouldn't draw blood from the amount of chewing. They walked out of the house to joking messages from Gina.

'Emily, have her back by eleven. Naomi, maybe you should change into something that doesn't make you look like you want someone to jump you.'

Neither of them responded, or talked until they were a couple of streets away. Naomi stopped walking, forcing Emily to stop to when their hands fell apart.

'Sorry about my mother.' Emily merely laughed, her smile huge and her eyes wandering down Naomi's body. 'Stop perving.'

'Your mother was right, dressing like that really does make people want to jump you.'

'People?'

'One person in particular.'

Forcing her eyes wide, Naomi stared at Emily aghast. Shaking her head. 'I don't know about you, but I don't fuck on a first date.'

'What about kiss?' Emily asked, twirling her fingers through Naomi's and tugging her towards her.

The strength it took for Naomi not to fall for her charms left her gasping for breath. Their lips hovered near enough together until Naomi stepped back with a cheeky grin.

'Not until the end of a first date.'

The lowering of Emily's gaze, her eyes curling downwards like Puss in Boots from Shrek made it even harder. But Naomi persevered. She shook her head, lowering her lips to Emily's nose and pressing a gentle kiss against it. She stalked off down the street passing a 'not a chance' smile back at her as Emily followed with a disappointed smirk.

*

The restaurant was cosy and intimate, just the way Naomi liked it. When she was nine, Gina took her to a big, fancy one for her birthday and halfway through the whole room started to sing 'Happy Birthday' as a waiter brought out a cake. When everyone clapped she ran to the bathroom and didn't move until her mum promised to take her home. Since then she refused to go to any larger restaurants in favour of the smaller ones. When she told Emily the story, she laughed.

'I don't find it funny.'

Emily shook her head. 'It's not that. Katie and I went to a restaurant like that once. I hated every second of it, but Katie used to ask every year if we could go back. Think she liked the attention.'

Talking about her sister made Emily go quiet. Naomi watched her mood travel from excitable to quiet and withdrawn. She reached out a hand and looked deep into Emily's eyes with a smile.

'This place is nice,' Emily commented, clearing her throat and looking down at the menu.

'I've been a few times with mum. They do some really good vegetarian dishes, for when she's having a veggie month.'

'Veggie month? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being Vegetarian?'

Naomi shrugged. 'She likes to eat meat sometimes I guess. She doesn't do things like normal people.'

'Oh,' Emily gasped, looking a little closer at the menu.

'What's wrong?'

'This isn't the cheapest restaurant.'

'Don't worry about that,' Naomi smiled. 'I asked you out. I'm paying.'

'But,'

'I have a job, I saved a bit and mum gave me some too,' Naomi assured her. The way Emily's eyes darted about in worry made Naomi want to kiss her. It was cute. Yet at the same time it made her want to cry. 'Please don't worry. I wouldn't bring you somewhere expensive and make you pay.'

By the time the food had arrived, the two girls were deep in conversation, laughing and joking about Naomi's job and their lives as a whole. Naomi watched Emily telling her a story about the late night visits she would make to her house, enjoying the animation on Emily's face.

'You and mum really get along, don't you?'

Emily nodded. 'You're quite hard on her sometimes but really Naomi, she's amazing.'

'I know,' Naomi sighed, looking down at her empty plate. 'I just, struggle to talk, to anyone.'

A hand came down over her own, she smiled up at Emily, content by her comforting touch. She squeezed her fingers around Emily's hand and they sat staring into each other's eyes.

'Fuck,' Naomi snapped, taking her hand back and retrieving her noisy phone from her pocket. 'Should have turn,'

The tiny screen lit up brandishing her speechless when the name she least expected flashed up. Her heart jumped into her mouth, the contents of her stomach shifting uncomfortably. She pressed the red button, chewing on her lip whilst she slipped the phone back into her pocket.

'Withheld,' she smiled back at Emily, but the phone only rang again. 'Sorry, it's not. It's my fucking ex-girlfriend.'

Naomi watched for Emily's reaction, conscious of hurting her with the news that it wasn't just a stranger. Thankfully Emily only smiled back.

'What the fuck do you want Abi?'

Never once taking her eyes off Emily, Naomi listened to the girl on the other end talk. She rolled her eyes all too often and heaved a sigh. Emily frowned at her curiously.

'You're where?' Naomi gasped, muttering a farewell and standing up. 'We have to go.'

'Oh,' Emily looked disappointed, her sad face bringing Naomi back down to earth with a loud crash.

She reached out to Emily's hand and held it up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles. 'I'm so sorry. I don't want to do this. Abi says she's sat outside my house.'

'In London?'

'No. Here. I have to go, you can stay if you want.'

'I don't want. I want to stay with you.'

They walked towards the door, stopping by the pay point on the way out. Naomi cherished the comforting touch of Emily's fingers linked with her own between them. The comfort made her feel better and the walk home a lot more relaxed with Emily there trying to distract her with whisperings in her ear. Eventually, as they reached her road, Emily pulled her to a stop.

'What should I expect when we get back?'

'What do you mean?'

Emily raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. 'Will she be expecting you to be alone?'

'No, Emily, don't feel like you can't continue to hold my hand just because she's there. But,' Naomi trailed off, staring down at the pavement. She chewed on her lip, wondering where the perfect night had fizzled off to. Eventually she lifted her gaze again. 'She sounded off her face. You shouldn't have to deal with that, so when we get there I'll take her into the kitchen, make her a drink and you should just go to bed or something.'

'Okay.'

The house came into view. Naomi's grip on Emily's hand tightened and she sent a wary smile at her. They reached the driveway and a brunette stumbled towards them. Naomi consciously let go of Emily's hand, stepping towards her ex.

'Naomi,' the girl gasped, reaching her arms out and gripping Naomi's shoulders.

'Get the fuck off me,' Naomi snapped, pushing her away, her hand returning to Emily's. Her eyes trained on Abi's, watching her notice the closeness between them. The wild eyes of her ex-girlfriend were darting between their intertwined fingers and their faces. Naomi clenched Emily's hand tighter; a need for comfort, support and someone to assure her that everything was going to be alright, her top priority.

Abi charged at them, her face contorted with anger and frustration. 'You fucking bitch, she's _my _fucking girlfriend!'

The speed of her movement broke them apart. Naomi let go of Emily's hand, took several wobbly steps backwards until her body hit the rusted old card that belonged to her mother. She righted herself, made sure she could stand unsupported before turning back to Emily just in time to watch Abi grapple at Emily's head and smack her across the face.


	12. Chapter 12: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them all so much! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, it really took a turn I didn't actually expect/plan. Please review!**

It Ends Tonight; _Twelve_

The cut sitting below Emily's eye stung when the wet towel reached it, she flinched, digging her nails into the arms of the chair. She closed her eyes and allowed Gina to see to the neat bruise forming on the edge of her cheekbone. After the first punch was thrown Emily had stumbled backwards into a bush, she tried to recall what happened next. Naomi wrapping her arms around Abi in the attempt to hold her back, Gina coming out to see what the commotion was all about. Naomi disappearing inside with her ex-girlfriend leaving Gina to help Emily out of the garden. She hadn't seen Naomi since.

'What if everything changes?'

'I don't know what's going on, but Naomi loves you, that much I do know.'

Wise words from a wise woman. It shocked Emily, not even realising she'd spoken her thoughts aloud until she received an answer. She cracked her eyes open and allowed the tears hovering to fall from her eyelids.

'Why am I always fucking crying?'

'There's nothing wrong with tears,' Gina assured her, patting her knee. 'All done, there's not much we can do about that bruise. I'll get you some ice to stop it from swelling.'

Emily accepted the makeshift ice pack, leaning backwards in the chair and resting it over her left cheek. She closed her eyes again, listening to the sounds in the kitchen. Gina moving around, filling the kettle with water and switching it on. Two voices upstairs, barely audible but enough to fill Emily with a mixture of jealousy, loathing and dread.

A few minutes later and a mug was placed in front of her, Gina returning to her seat. 'How was your date?'

The tea scolded her throat, travelling down it forcing her to wince. She blew on the steaming liquid, regretting her earlier actions. A brief thank you to Gina before focusing again on the voices.

'When things have calmed down, Naomi will come to us.'

'Will she?' Emily asked, sceptically.

'I believe she will.'

Eventually Naomi appeared in the doorway staring at Emily and Gina with guilt and sadness. Gina pulled her into her arms, guiding her to a chair, whilst Emily watched from her seat. She wasn't sure what to do, what to say or how to react to the latter part of the evening.

'How is your friend?'

'Pissed,' Naomi sighed, resting an elbow on the table and resting her head in her hands. 'She's coming down.'

Gina filled a mug with tea and passed it across to Naomi. 'Down from what?'

'Drugs,' Emily whispered when Naomi didn't reply. She stole a glance at Naomi, looking away abruptly the second she looked back. 'She's addicted to speed.'

'Emily,' Naomi spoke, her voice shaky. 'Can we talk alone?'

The tone in Naomi's voice, the painful look in her eyes made Emily's decision a lot easier. She'd built up a possible response in the time between being left with Gina and Naomi returning; she was all set to get angry and tell Naomi where to go. The moment she realised how upset Naomi also was, she couldn't stop herself standing up and following the blonde into the spare bedroom.

'Are you okay?'

The question, like many of similar wondering, made the tears slide down her cheeks. A hand reached out to her and she dug her fingers into it, clutching it for comfort and support. Naomi sat down on the bed beside her and without thinking she reached out and wrapped her hands around Naomi's shoulders, pushing her face into the crook of her neck.

'I'm so sorry Emily, you have to believe me.'

'I know,' she sobbed, the scent of Naomi's skin lulling her into a sense of security. She took deep breaths, wiping her eyes before pulling out of the comforting embrace. Their hands stayed together.

'I was caught dealing speed at the student union.'

Emily's hands began to shake, all of her worries and over exaggerated thoughts replaced with the truth. Replaced with something she hadn't even comprehended. 'What?'

'Abi and I enjoyed taking speed once in a while, it was fun, it was good for when we went out and wanted to stay up for hours. I thought we could handle it, it wasn't very often. But one night Abi turned up at my halls and she was a mess; she couldn't breath properly, she looked like she'd run a marathon. I thought she was ill but when we talked the next day I found out she'd been using more often.'

'She was addicted,' Emily whispered, her voice becoming desperate. 'What about the dealing?'

'I didn't want to Emily, I didn't do it,' she sighed. Emily shifted uncomfortably on the bed, edging away from Naomi. She could barely breath, her throat closing up at the thought of what had happened.

She stared at Naomi as though she was seeing her for the first time, her eyes wild with confusion. 'Yeah? So why the fuck did you do it Naomi?'

'Don't get angry,' she mumbled, tears lacing her words. 'Please, just listen to me.'

'Come on then,' she snapped. 'Explain what made you act like such a fucking idiot.'

Naomi's blue eyes were clouded by tears, the droplets sliding down her cheeks when she glanced down at the bedspread. Emily's heart ached, her mind unable to establish whether it ached for Naomi, or for the truth she'd longed for.

'I tried to help her but she kept taking it, I wanted her to go to a doctor but she didn't think she had a problem. How can you argue with someone that gets so angry when they're coming down? Eventually she ran out of money and, and she stole everything I had in my bank account.'

'Did you go to the police?'

'No, Emily I couldn't do that! She was addicted, she didn't deserve to end up in jail as well.'

'Why not?'

'Ems, please,' Naomi tried. Emily narrowed her eyebrows, staring at her with confusion.

'I just don't understand how you went from letting her get away with stealing from you, to dealing drugs.'

The silence that followed seemed to last for hours. Naomi heaved a sigh and forced Emily to stare into her eyes, cupping her cheeks until she could look nowhere else.

'You fucking listen to me Emily, I didn't deal the drugs. Abi got them and started selling them to pay for her habit, when I found out I tried to take the stash off her but she went crazy. She punched a guy who told her to stop, then the security guards came over and kicked us both out. Only the drugs fell out of my pocket when he asked for our student ID cards.'

Emily took a deep breath, tried to contain the out of control feeling in her chest. 'Did the police not get involved?'

'I was lucky. There wasn't much, but there was enough for them to know what had happened. They separated us, spoke to us both separately and Abi lied, she told them the drugs were mine and that I was an addict. She twisted the whole story around and said that I'd got her into it and when they asked me, I froze up, I didn't know what to say because I didn't expect her to have lied like that. I just said it was me to stop them from shouting.'

'This is unbelievable,' Emily snapped, pushing Naomi's hands away and walking towards the door, she turned back and stared at her. 'I thought maybe you'd had a rough time, I didn't realise you were in so much fucking trouble.'

'It's over Emily,' Naomi tried, her voice sounding relieved. 'Please, it's over.'

'Over?' Emily scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. 'Your ex-girlfriend, the girl who fucked you over, is in your fucking bedroom and you're telling me that it's over. What the fuck Naomi?!'

'I don't know what you expect me to say Em, I can't stop her from being here right now. I didn't tell her I was going, I left without saying goodbye. I owe her this much.'

Emily rolled her eyes, staring at Naomi with an open mouth. 'You've known her for what, a few months? And you owe her because you left without saying goodbye?'

'Emily.'

She shook her head. 'No, you shut the fuck up Naomi. You left me the day college ended, you said that it was over, that we couldn't see each other again without any explanation. So because you said goodbye you don't owe me a thing, is that how it is?'

'No, Emily,' Naomi tried, her voice cracking under the strain. She stood up, moved across the room and rested her hands on Emily's shoulders. She allowed her to stay there. 'Please, I love you, I've always loved you.'

The revelation, words she'd heard many times before, did nothing. She pushed her away. 'You get your fucking hands off me Naomi. It's lies, it's all fucking lies.'

Reaching for the handle, Emily left the room, barely glancing at Gina watching from the kitchen doorway as she rushed out of the front door. The cool night air hit her flushed skin as she ran down the garden path.

'Emily, come back,' Naomi screamed after her. But she didn't stop moving, didn't stop running until she reached her parents front door and fell into the arms of her surprised father.


	13. Chapter 13: Gina

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**So...hi! It's been a while. Writer's block is the bane of my existance at the moment, tonight I got mad, which prompted me to write this. It started on a bit that isn't Gina POV, hope you don't mind. Please review after reading!**

It Ends Tonight; _Thirteen_

Nails dug into skin, teeth clenched and Naomi let out an almighty scream. It was all wrong, everything was going wrong yet again. She couldn't handle it, couldn't control the anger building inside her chest, stopping her from thinking normally. She marched out of the spare room, out of the house until she reached the garden. She needed a cigarette. The roll up was barely lit when the plants caught her eye; bright colours, reds, purples, yellows, greens. So much colour, so much Emily, she got angrier, more frustrated. Until she threw the cigarette on the floor, got down on her hands and knees and started to rip the flowers from their beds, throwing them across the patio until a pair of hands wrapped around her shoulders and cradled her as she cried.

'Emily will come back,' Gina informed her, she didn't know that she would, she could only hope.

'I've ruined it,' Naomi cried, a hand moving to her face to stem what appeared to be tears. 'I've ruined it too many times, I don't think she'll forgive me again.'

Gina let out a long, heaved breath and crossed her legs. 'She loves you, she might not say it, but I've not seen her as happy as she has been since you came home.' She brushed Naomi's hair from her face, brushed away the tears that continued to fall.

'I don't think I've been this happy either, since before I left,' Naomi replied, reclaiming her emotions and pressing her hands against damp cheeks.

The walls appeared to wobble, Naomi's defences finally tumbling down as Gina pulled her into her arms. She felt tears hovering on her eyelids, tears she didn't want to cry but couldn't stop. It broke her heart to see her daughter break, to feel her sobbing in her embrace, it always had.

'If we need to ask Abi to leave, we can do that,' Gina assured her, rubbing Naomi's back with the palm of her hand.

Naomi sat across the room staring into the bottom of an empty mug of tea, her eyes drooping in sorrow. The worst thing about being a mother, was watching your daughter in pain knowing there was nothing you could do to help. Gina put her own mug into the sink and sat down beside Naomi, taking her hand, holding it between her own. She wanted to do something, anything to stop the helpless look on Naomi's face.

'It's late, maybe you should try and sleep.'

'Don't want to,' Naomi sighed, her eyes maintaining their hold on the bottom of the mug.

'A good night's sleep might make you feel better.' Naomi shook her head, prompting Gina to let out a heavy sigh. All she wanted was to make everything better.

'I want to do what you used to do with Emily, when she came over at night,' Naomi mumbled, pushing her mug to one side and forcing a smile. She tried to cover it up, but Gina could see through her act.

Without another word, Gina pulled a deck of cards out of the kitchen drawer and began to shuffle them. She dealt a hand, constantly watching Naomi's reactions and facial expressions in the hope of breaking down how she was feeling inside her own head.

'The penny jar's in the cupboard under the sink,' she announced, placing the final card on the table and waiting for Naomi to return to her position opposite her.

'Did you play for pennies with Emily?' Naomi asked, her eyes growing glossy and her words faltering as she reached Emily's name. Gina just shook her head and split up the pot.

They played all night, until the sun came up. Neither of them talking about anything but cards. Naomi's outburst long forgotten, her mood still considerably low. Gina didn't stop watching, waiting for the moment when she hoped her daughter would talk to her again. Around four, Naomi told her what happened at university and as if the conversation had never even happened, they returned to playing cards again. Eventually, Gina made them fresh mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches, despite it still being barely seven thirty.

'Full house!' Naomi grinned, pulling a handful of coins towards her and piling them up. Gina laughed, didn't care that she lost, as long as Naomi was smiling again.

A few hours passed, yet neither of them moved. Gina made some tea and toast for Abi and took it upstairs whilst Naomi set up for another game. She stood by the dresser, watching the girl her daughter had one cared about as she chewed on the buttered toast.

'I shouldn't have come here, Naomi's moved on. I'll be out by the end of the day.'

Gina nodded, 'That might be for the best.'

When Gina reached the kitchen again, the cards were in a pile on the table and Naomi was staring down at her phone, pressing buttons repeatedly, holding it up to her ear. Slamming the phone back down against the table again when the phone call appeared to be unsuccessful.

'No answer?'

'What do you think?' Naomi snapped, wiping a few tears from the end of her nose.

'No need to get angry with me Naomi. I'm not the one who deserves it.'

'No,' she snarled. 'Abi does. She fucked this whole thing up. Everything was going fine before she arrived.'

A line was forming on Naomi's forehead, a line of worry that Gina wished would disappear. Instead it became more defined.

'I thought things were going okay, until Emily came out of her room. Is it really Abi's fault?'

The familiarity of Naomi's lip being chewed by her tooth, she wished to tell her to stop or one day she'd have no lip left, but without it she doubted her ability to know when Naomi was deep in thought.

'No.'

The answer wasn't a surprise. She sat back in her chair and drank her tea, waiting for Naomi to act. One thing she always promised herself was to not push her, only sometimes it was easier said than done.

'I did it, I fucked up again,' Naomi finally whispered, her voice breaking up until she was barely audible.

'What happened?'

'I didn't treat Emily well. I left her and then expected her to come back to me without needing to work at it. She was right, I owe her more _because_ I said goodbye.'

If she was honest, Gina wasn't very sure what her daughter was even talking about. Instead she reached out a hand, cupping Naomi's and sent her a comforting smile. 'What are you going to do about it?'

'I don't know.'

'You're not sounding like the Naomi I raised,' she noted, moving her hand out to Naomi's down turned face and lifting her chin with one finger,

'How can I know what to do if she won't answer her phone? I don't know where she is. I can't find her if I don't know where she is.'

'It's still early,' Gina assured her. 'Maybe she went to her parents, try again in a few hours.'

'I doubt she went there.' Naomi stared at her aghast. 'I don't even know where they live anymore.'

Those sparkling blue eyes, so lost in pain disappeared in a sea of hair. Naomi's face sank into her hands. It took all of Gina's strength not to jump out of her seat and wrap her arms around Naomi again. Instead, she waited until Naomi lifted her head once more.

'I've ruined it, I don't know what to do. I can't stand it, I can't. I thought she was okay, she accepted what happened with Abi and now, I've fucked it up over something I should have fixed the day we first saw each other again.'

For the first time, Gina couldn't see reason to defend her daughter's actions above Emily's. She took a deep breath, hoped she wasn't making a mistake and allowed her true feelings out. 'I think you're overestimating Emily.'

'What do you mean?'

'She's more fragile than I think you realise.'

'What the fuck?' Naomi sat up straight, her eyes darting around in confusion. 'Since when did you know her better than I do?!'

'I don't claim to know her better Naomi,' Gina assured her, putting all of her attention onto her daughter. 'I claim to notice things. You're very different from her, she isn't like you.'

'Of course she's not. She's Emily;' Naomi rolled her eyes, her trademark express of sarcasm. 'Beautiful, amazing, nice Emily.'

Gina sighed, 'You build walls.' Each moment was critical, she pushed ahead, hoping she wasn't pushing Naomi away. 'Emily just struggles to float.'

Thankfully Naomi merely frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'You shield your feelings, put walls up when things get tough and it serves you well. Emily doesn't, she struggles, she fights so hard to keep her head above water and sometimes it gets too much.'

The observation of Emily was something she prided herself on building over the months they'd talked. It had taken years to figure out Naomi, especially after she reached puberty. Yet Emily, she managed to figure out in only a few months.

'Emily's drowning and I'm in my own personal prison, really great imagery there mother,' Naomi sighed, rolled her eyes again. 'We're not fucking basket cases who you can psychoanalyse.'

'I didn't say you were,' Gina affirmed. 'I wasn't trying to analyse you. I'm trying to help you to understand. You deal with things on your own, you build a wall and you deal with things in private. Emily isn't like that, she's a strong swimmer, but eventually she'll probably need help getting out.'

'You're saying I should help her?' Naomi asked, frowning.

'I'm saying you need to realise that Emily deals with everything differently. You can't expect her to be okay with something just because she says it is, or just because she doesn't talk about it. You know that Emily keeps things inside until she can't stand it anymore. That fight she had with her sister, the way she told her parents that she was gay. She reacted, she didn't think it through. She struggled to handle it, so she fought against it and it only made it worse.'

A look of realisation, of an explorer discovering something new in a barren land all seemed to appear on Naomi's face. She stood up, walked towards the front door, walked back again.

'Thank you,' she smiled, kissing Gina's cheek, her first honest smile in hours planted on her face. She ran back towards the front door, stopping again and mumbling as she rushed up the stairs. 'Should probably shower first.'


	14. Chapter 14: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**I can feel things gradually changing, this writer's block...slowly, so don't expect things all the time. But I'm getting there. Step by step, little by little. Thanks for reading, for reviewing and please do the same with this one!!!**

It Ends Tonight; _Fourteen_

The smell of coffee overpowered her senses making the mug of tea taste bitter and stranger than she expected. The cafe was noisy, too busy for her liking. She glanced at her watch, impatiently eyeing up the time, waiting for the seconds to pass by and noticing her arrival time at work slipping away as she stayed put.

'Mum, please,' she begged into the phone, hopeful that Gina would call her in sick. After wearing her down, Naomi slipped her phone back into her pocket and continued to watch the door.

A couple of old ladies came in, saw the queue and opted for leaving again. Then a mother dragged her unwilling child over to the counter.

'I don't want a haircut.'

'Well you're getting one. Now which cookie would you like?'

'Chocolate.'

The mundane lives of the people around her distracted Naomi to the point of near forgetfulness. When the dark haired Fitch entered the cafe, it took her by surprise. It took a moment to remember her plan and she recoiled into her corner seat, hiding behind her long hair and a newspaper that the previous person had left.

'I'll have a decaf skinny mochachino with extra foam please Kyle.'

Flirtatious, only to be expected from the man loving Katie Fitch. Naomi watched carefully, disappearing behind her paper once in a while to avoid suspicion. She looked dressed up, probably working no doubt. Naomi sent a brief message to Gina, checking in with her about the call to the boss. When she pressed send, her attention returned to watching Katie pay, with the price of the extra foam knocked off, of course. Naomi took a final mouthful of her tea, threw the paper on the seat and left the cafe on the tail of Emily's twin. She didn't get too close, but didn't stray too far behind. In the end she rushed to catch up, a near enough deserted alleyway her best option to catch Katie off guard.

'Argh!' Katie screamed the moment Naomi wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pushed her into the alley. She clamped a hand over her mouth until those brown eyes that looked so much like Emily's changed from fear to confusion in only a few seconds. She removed her hand, moving it to the wall in an attempt to imprison Katie against it.

'What the fuck are you doing you psychobitch?!' Katie screamed at her, trying to push her away but to no avail. Naomi merely smirked back, letting her know that she was the one in control.

'Tell me where she is.'

'Where who is?'

'Who the fuck do you think? The only person we ever had in common.'

'Effy?' Katie replied, her own smirk evident.

'Not Effy. Christ, I thought you actually passed your A levels, or has your brain shrunk since the last time I saw you?'

Katie's eyes grew serious, narrowing directly at Naomi. 'She's my best friend.'

'Oh.'

'You mean my sister, yeah?' Katie asked, taking back control of the situation long enough to push Naomi away and imprison _her _against a wall. 'Don't fuck with me, or you'll regret it.'

The slap came by surprise, so much so that Naomi didn't have much time to notice that Katie was walking away. Her only chance to get the information she required slipping from under her fingertips. Naomi followed her, grabbed for her arm and gripped hold of it until those brown eyes stared at her again, with fire burning within them.

'Get your fucking nails out of my arm. I'm going on holiday next month, I don't need fucking scars.'

'Tell me where she is,' Naomi snapped, waiting for an answer that never came, before digging her nails in further.

'Alright you fucking nutjob, I'll tell you, just get off my arm, it well hurts.'

'Not until you tell me, Jesus,' Naomi groaned, impatience returning.

'So it was your fault she came home?!' Katie realised, raising her eyebrows.

'Where's home?'

'Oh yeah, I forgot you fucked off before we moved there. Maybe I won't tell you.'

She was growing too frustrated, too angry. Naomi dug her nails in deeper until Katie screamed out again. Naomi's eyes filled with tears, she wiped at them hastily with her free hand.

'I need to know.'

'Oh you need to know,' Katie rolled her eyes. 'That means I'm gonna tell you does it? Get real Naomi, she came home a right mess. I don't think she needs to see you right now.'

'Fucking tell me Katie,' Naomi cried out, a hand on each arm as she shook her. 'She's been lying to everyone, did you know that? Staying in fucking college accommodation.'

'What the fuck are you talking about? She went travelling.'

'No she didn't, she hasn't even left Bristol. Ask her, just fucking ask her. She can't lie, not when faced with the truth. You know she can't lie. And tell me where the fuck you live.'

Katie's eyes softened, fear returning of another variety. She stared at Naomi in confusion, in hurt. 'Okay.'

A small set of flats stood in the place of the house Naomi expected. She knew there had been money problems, the extent of which only began to sink in when she pressed the buzzer to allow entrance to the building. Her patience rattled when the thick Scottish accent of the Fitch mother could be heard. Naomi felt her confidence waver and all hope of standing up to the woman disappeared when she stated her name. Silence. It took a long and painful minute before the older Fitch woman actually spoke.

'You're not welcome here.'

She tried again, pressing the buzzer several times to show her intent wasn't slight. She waited, pressed the buzzer repeatedly and continued to wait until the voice of a teenage boy, a little deeper than she remembered, started rattling off swear words.

'And if you think I'm going to let you see Emily you'll get a good hard spanking off my mate Gordon, you fucking dyke.'

His voice disappeared under a disapproving rant from Jenna, 'Get off the speaker, I don't want you talking to that girl and I certainly don't want you swearing either.'

'But she's a fucking bitch mum, she hurt Emily.'

'We don't know what she did James, another word out of you and you won't be getting that Playstation game you wanted for your birthday.'

The exchange of conversation, though unhelpful to Naomi's cause, made her smile. She hadn't spent much time with Emily's family due to Jenna's dislike of her, but what she had seen of their verbal sparring left her wanting more. A warped sport of sorts.

'Please,' she begged, holding down the button. 'I want, I _need _to see her.'

Nobody spoke again. Naomi stood back, looked up at the windows, catching the curtain in one moving and a distinctive nose disappeared behind the material. Her heart skipped a beat, leaving her sobbing as she walked away from the house. Defeated, Naomi went home. Whilst she walked through Bristol her feet grew tired, her body weary from the amount of time spent upright and her face turned red from the amount of tears.

'Naomi?' Gina asked the moment she opened the front door. Naomi barely glanced up at her, exhaustion taking hold. She stumbled up the stairs, not listening to her mother's calls and footsteps behind her.

Finally Naomi reached her bedroom, the door stood open and inside Abi was sat reading a book. The wooden doorframe steadied Naomi, kept her upright until Gina arrived beside her.

'What's she still doing here?' Naomi snapped, talking to her mother, despite gaining Abi's attention. 'I don't fucking want her here.'

'I said she could stay,' Gina informed her. 'Just for a few days.'

The fight inside of her had gone. Naomi could barely remember her strength to hold up the walls. She couldn't find any motivation to do anything but stumble back to the spare room in silence, to the bed Emily had slept in. The material curled up around her, intertwining her body with sheets that smelt of the red hair and green shoes that overtook her memories.


	15. Chapter 15: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**I know it's been a while again and for that I am sorry. I've had a very busy week of late helping out with a campaign where I volunteer and applying for jobs. I'm hoping to wrap this story up within a couple of chapters, it's been an enjoyable one to write and I'm so sorry it's been so faltered in getting it uploaded. Thank you for the reviews, it means a lot to know you're enjoying the story and that you want more. I will try to do better...please review!**

It Ends Tonight; _Fifteen_

If a person's happiness was based on the number of tears they cry, Emily assumed she would be classed as a hopeless case. The tears came out of nowhere and she didn't even feel they served any purpose. Naomi had never took steps to repair what they had, not directly and neither had she. They'd opted for starting again and up until Abi arrived, Emily had been okay with that. Now all the things she felt when college was ending returned and she could hardly breath for the tears. She holed herself up in a room she couldn't have to herself, back to sharing with her sister like they were children again.

'Emily?' Jenna called, tapping on the door with her sympathetic voice, her _fake _voice that left Emily feeling like she was in trouble.

The day she was about to leave college had started out as one of the best days of her life. She'd deferred university in favour of travelling, seeing the world and really making a difference. Everything she had ever hoped and dreamed about was coming true and she was elated. She was in a serious relationship with someone she trusted, someone she loved more than she ever thought humanely possible that it sometimes scared her. Then Naomi hadn't turned up at college and after spending most of the day wondering why she wouldn't answer her phone, Emily had gone round to her house only to be told by Naomi that it was over. Her worst nightmare coming into fruition on a day that was supposed to be the beginning, not the end. There was no explanation, except that Naomi wanted to be free and didn't think it fair that their years were planned separately. That eventually they would be in different places, studying different things, with different people around them. There was barely anything in Naomi's eyes to give her true feelings away, except a look of defeat that made Emily doubt everything she'd said. It made no sense and Emily spent four months trying to figure it out in her mind. To no avail.

'Emily,' Jenna tried again, pushing on the door handle and letting herself in. Emily wiped at her eyes, lowered herself onto the bed away from the window and allowed the woman that still couldn't accept her to provide little comfort. They hadn't smoothed over their problems, they had barely even talked about anything related to Emily's sexuality, the cause of the great rift in the Fitch family. The situation, whilst similar to that with Naomi, failed in comparison. Nobody wanted to change it, none of them acted like it was still an issue, when it so blindingly was.

'It's going to be okay.'

Empty, useless words left Emily doubting her mother. She stared at her, showed her all of the pain in her eyes and forced her to see that was she wasn't happy. That maybe she needed more than kind words, maybe she needed her mother to love her unconditionally, regardless of the things she didn't necessarily agree with. Instead Jenna merely looked away, her own face giving away signs of shame and regret.

'You don't know that, you don't know anything,' Emily goaded, attempting to forge a line of conversation beyond the small talk they had become accustomed to.

'Then tell me.'

Emily scoffed. 'Tell you what? That the person you always said would hurt me did. That I can't stop crying because despite everything I still love her. That Naomi _and _her mum, for that matter, accept me more that my own family?'

Her lips pursed, pressed together until they were barely visible. Emily knew her words were affecting Jenna, hurting her in the same way that she had hurt back. She couldn't see any other way of talking to her, making her listen and realise just how much of a mess they had created.

'Is that what you want to hear?' Emily cried out. 'Or maybe you want to know what I've really been doing the past few months, which isn't what you think in case you actually fucking care.'

'I care,' Jenna tried, her voice painfully quiet.

The sincerity in Jenna's voice broke Emily's fragile heart into smaller pieces. She'd created an idea in her head that Jenna didn't care, it was easier that way, easier to justify her actions. Yet she found herself faced with a truth she herself hadn't sought to find. Everything she had built up in her mind to be true was no longer valid and the unfair walls she'd built for no other reason but to spite the people she loved, came crashing down between them.

Emily nodded. 'I know.'

A chasm the size of the Grand Canyon, one of the places Emily hadn't had a chance to visit, appeared and the two of them looked at each other with barely recognition. The pain continued to flood in and Emily had to clench the bedcovers with her fists to stop herself from crying until Jenna stood up and silently left the room.

'Where is she?' Katie shouting, announcing her arrival. Emily turned over on the put up bed, looking to the doorway, to Katie for the answer to her own question. When no answer came she rolled back over and carried on reading a book about a celebrity she had little interest in.

'I'm waiting for an answer Emily.'

Emily shrugged and flicked through a couple of pages of the book. 'Can't give you an answer when I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Naomi, where is she?'

'I don't know,' Emily muttered, her attention still split mostly for effect than interest in both. She cared little for the washed up z-lister bragging about the men she'd slept with and for once, she cared little for her sister's impatience.

'Stop reading your fucking book,' Katie snapped.

'It's not my fucking book, it's yours. Why do you read this celebrity rubbish?'

'Because it's well better than reading fairytales about men that don't exist and gays called Darcy.'

Emily rolled her eyes, unwilling to become broiled in a pointless battle. 'Yeah, for someone with no brain cells.'

'Fuck off, yeah? I'm trying to help you Emily. This isn't about books. Why don't you know where Naomi is?'

'I didn't see her,' Emily sighed. 'How do you even know she was here?'

'How do you think she knew where to come?' Katie rolled her eyes.

'You fucking _told_ her?' Emily asked, her eyes wide with shock and confusion.

'I wasn't going to. Do you think I care that she wanted to see you? She's a fucking psycho. I don't know why you started seeing her again.'

'It's none of your business, stay the fuck out of it,' Emily defended herself, her life. She didn't want to be forced into battle when she cared little for the outcome, or the happiness of both parties. For the first time she was willing to fight to the end, regardless and that scared her.

'Yeah, okay. I'll stay out of it when you tell me why you lied.'

'What?' Emily asked, hiding her true feelings as best as she could. 'I didn't lie.'

'Yes you did. You haven't left Bristol,' Katie snapped, her hands on her hips and her tongue curling with venom. 'She told me Emily. Don't fucking deny it.'

'Just leave me alone, okay?' Emily tried, wrapping her hands around her knees and making herself as small as possible. It never worked but that didn't stop her from trying.

'No I won't leave you alone. You lied to me. We said we wouldn't do that again.'

'No Katie, _you_ said we wouldn't. I didn't say anything. I just rolled over and let you make all the decisions.'

She always had. For their eighth birthday party Katie wanted a Spice Girl's theme where Emily would have preferred bog standard hats and games. At eight Emily didn't know how to speak up against her domineering sister, her family didn't see the struggle she had with Katie and unfortunately, Spice Girls won out. It was the beginning, the start of a life in the shadows. Up until that decision she had stood by Katie's strength and power, thought it good that she was like that since Emily wasn't. It took her years to realise the problems it caused.

'Don't be a bitch Emily, it doesn't suit you.'

Emily rolled her yes, unable to let herself lose against Katie's prowess. 'I'll be however the fuck I like. You don't care, you've never cared.'

'That's not true.'

'Yes it is. Look at you Katie, in and out busy all the fucking time. You don't have any time for me, you've not had time for me since we left college so don't pretend it's any different now.'

'Emily,' she tried, her sensitive side showing through her usual mask.

'Just leave me alone Katie, fuck off.'

'Nobody tells me to fuck off, especially not you,' Katie shouted back, hiding behind her defences. 'We were fine without you, you know? Fucking fine when you were pretending to be travelling. We didn't miss you because lets face it, you were never here anyway.'

'What are you still talking about?'

'You and your stupid girlfriend. When you met her you made a choice Emily. You chose her over your whole family. You hurt mum and dad, even James wished you were home more.'

'Are you forgetting that it was all of you that pushed _me _away? I didn't fucking leave you, you all left me.'

'You didn't have to leave.'

'Yes I did.'

'You made your choice Emily, don't expect to keep coming back here when things haven't worked out. Maybe one day we won't be here.'

'Fuck off Katie, you don't know anything about it.'

'No Emily, _you _don't. Fuck off back to Naomi's and don't pretend you're back here for any other reason but that she dumped you...again.'

Emily's eyes had grown wide with shock. Since coming home things had been mostly fine, if you counted the lack of conversation and real company. That was until Naomi turned up. She didn't mind being back there, spending time with her family again, even if they showed little interest in her actual life. Then Katie arrived home and everything changed. She hadn't expected things to work out with her mum, things never did. She was too wrapped up in her own views of the world to care what happened to her. But Katie, she had _supported _her, _loved _her when the rest of the world was against her. Now she wasn't sure anymore which side she was even on. If the sides still meant the same and if staying away had perhaps done more harm than good. She wiped at the tears falling from her eyes, looked up at Katie with all the sadness she felt in the hope of gaining her sympathy. Unfortunately, it backfired.

'Don't fucking guilt trip me with tears. You've made this mess. You need to fucking fix it or one day you'll wake up and realise you're alone.'

'I've already fucking been there,' Emily cried out, picking up the celebrity biography and a couple of items she'd accumulated since being home and she left.

Gina answered the door after three loud knocks. The plan was to ask her if it was okay to come in for some tea, then explain that she wasn't happy being back at home and see what words of wisdom Gina might share. Instead, Emily collapsed against her in a flurry of tears and jumbled sentences. She knew none of it made sense, but she needed to speak to avoid letting everything disappear behind her recently constructed walls.

'Come into the kitchen,' Gina offered, half carrying her through the house.

Naomi's absence from the downstairs was a relief and though Emily suspected she wasn't far away, she didn't feel the threat of bumping into her.

'Thank you,' she cried out, wiping at her face with a tissue and squeezing Gina's offered hand.

They had tea in silence, something they had done many times before but for the first time, something Emily wished wasn't quite so easy. She still had things she wanted to say yet slipping into an old routine made it harder to start and easier to accept a biscuit, followed by a game of dominos. In the end the evening passed by and Emily began to feel better, more at home in a place she should have felt awkward. That was, until she heard Naomi's voice growing louder on the floor above.

**Fancy helping the campaign I've been volunteering on and tell me WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? :-D**


	16. Chapter 16: Naomi

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, you guys make writing so much more enjoyable. Knowing you're going to read it and then give me your feedback/thoughts, it is a little daunting, never quite sure how you'll react to some of the things I write. But I hope this is one chapter I don't need a crystal ball to know what you think...still, a review wouldn't hurt? ;-)**

**This is for Lightbulb2k3, you might want a box of IHLM tissues on hand!**

It Ends Tonight; _Sixteen_

'I let you stay because,' Naomi muttered, before being interrupted by a frustrated Abi.

'Because your mum made you. I'm not stupid Naomi, I know I'm not welcome here.'

Naomi sighed and rested her head into her hands. 'Can you blame me?'

'No. But we had something special, even if things didn't work out,' Abi smiled, kneeling at the foot of the bed and reaching a hand out to Naomi's face. 'You were my first proper love.'

Naomi looked away, the feel of Abi's hand against her face and the sincerity in her words left her shaking. The thing she desired more than anything, was comfort. But she couldn't seek it in the person who had contributed to her own mess plummeting. She had to grow up and start accepting responsibility for her mistakes.

'Don't.'

'_She_ was yours, wasn't she?'

Reluctantly Naomi nodded, her attempts to maintain eye contact thwarted by her own lack of confidence. Her love for Emily wasn't the issue, hadn't really been the issue for a year, ever since she left. The problem was hurting the only other person she'd let in. She consciously watched Abi's eyes curling downwards in sorrow, in regret and she couldn't handle knowing she was somewhat to blame.

'I understand,' Abi assured her, letting her hand drop.

'If Emily wasn't here, if she wasn't around, I could have,' Naomi began, her voice cracking under the strain. Abi silenced her with a shake of the head.

She stood up. Her ex-girlfriend was in obvious distress, hurt by her actions. She tried to remind herself that it wasn't her fault, that she'd already left her months ago. Instead she watched her cry, wished she could comfort her but instead walked out of the room.

xxx

Emily was sat at her kitchen table. The sight of her there, looking tired, her drab brown hair showing little life in comparison to the colour before. Naomi hated how the colour represented Emily's mood; a painful reminder that her beautiful red head was no longer happy. Not just since her betrayal, since she put her foot in it and hurt Emily again by the one thing she didn't want to ever be a problem anymore. So Emily was there, sat at the kitchen table, probably drinking tea and playing with, what looked like, a set of dominos. Instead of making her presence known, Naomi stood there, watching her enjoying the evening with Gina, giving her the space she seemed to desperately crave. Gina's words, her warning that Emily wasn't like her stood out at that moment and she realised that, not only was Emily nothing like her, she was nothing like the Emily she remembered either. Something had changed, shifted somehow and she suspected without doubt that it was to do with the other Fitchs. What else could it be? Gina was wrong. Emily had walls, but unlike Naomi, she was begging for them to be broken down, destroyed.

'Naomi, come join us,' Gina shouted out, barely registering the struggle mounted on Emily's face. She bit her lip, stared at Gina with caution before looking to Emily for approval.

'It's your house.'

The logic should have made it easier, only it didn't. Emily was putting the ball in her court and for a brief moment she allowed herself to fall for it. She could tell that Emily didn't want her there, didn't want her to join them at all but felt compelled. Naomi didn't move. She continued to stare at Emily, at the kitchen, at the domino Emily had to put down to successfully complete her go. There were two options; a test set out to fool her into going for the one she wanted instead of what would make Emily happy. Only she didn't want to go for either.

'Can we go outside? To talk.'

A third option, one that Emily probably didn't even think was valid at that very moment, but one that Naomi knew she had to offer when it was least expected. Emily looked confused, taken aback and right where Naomi wanted her.

'Oh...kay.'

The game was dicey and unfair, the betrayal she felt merely playing with Emily was too much that she had to set forth towards the garden before she changed her mind and apologised. She walked across the kitchen to the back door, opened it and stepped out into the cool evening air. Emily wasn't far behind, she didn't look, couldn't hear her, she just sensed her following until they were stood facing each other on the patio.

'What did, what...?' Emily asked, closing down whilst attempting to discover Naomi's motives.

'I hurt you.'

'I think that's obvious, don't you?' Emily muttered, sarcastically.

Naomi reached a hand out to her shoulder, brushed her fingers against the folds of material that met with bare skin. She removed it again, watched Emily's eyes for a reaction and smiled at the glint shining back.

'A couple of years ago you told me you wanted me and you asked me to be brave. Then I was, or at least I made you think I was.'

'You weren't?'

The light that shone when Naomi touched her went out the second Naomi finished speaking and Emily's words ended. Shock, surprise, sadness. She hated telling her the truth, yet knew it was the only way to move forwards.

'I loved you Emily, I _love _you, that didn't change, _hasn't _changed.'

'Then what?' Emily gasped, turning around and moving her hands to her face. The garden was too dark but even Naomi knew Emily was crying.

'I was scared to be brave. I tried and tried and somehow it got too much. The way people looked at us when we were close, when we hugged or kissed, especially when we kissed. I wanted to kiss you, but at the same time doing it in front of people made me want to run and hide.'

'So you were scared,' Emily whispered, trailing off, prompting Naomi to continue speaking when her silence went on longer than she'd anticipated.

'What I said when I ended it, I meant it Emily, but not the way it sounded. I wanted you to go out there and be the best person you could be, without having me wanting to hide behind closed doors. I didn't want to be a burden and I didn't want us to spend a year apart, wishing that we could just be together again.'

Another silence, longer this time. Naomi waited, wanted Emily to speak before she said anything more. She stared at her hair, shining under the moonlight. For the first time, Naomi could see beauty in a colour she'd disliked. It wasn't as bright as rosy red cheeks or plump lips, it wasn't the same as a brand new red car. It wasn't representative of a love so deep that those who felt it were consumed daily. Instead it was life, rebirth, nature re-growing after a weathered storm. Things changed, colours faded and hair grew. The light beaming from the hair, made her want to kiss it and smell it and tell Emily that it was the most beautiful thing about her. Instead she waited.

'You think I didn't spend every waking minute of the last year _wanting _you anyway?' she finally cried out, her voice breaking under the strain. Naomi watched her turn, watched the moon catching the droplets of tears on her face.

'I know,' Naomi cried out, reaching out her hands and cupping the cheeks she had no claim to. 'I broke your heart when I ended it, but I broke my own just as much. I wanted you back, every fucking day.'

'What a fucking cliché,' Emily snarled, her voice etched with anger and pain, but her movement contradicting her.

Naomi waited for a slap, or for Emily to push her away with brute force. In the end two hands came down over her own, cupping Emily's face with her and the only thing she could see was the two glowing eyes of the girl she loved.

'I hate clichés,' Naomi sighed, quietly. 'But all I can think of is clichés. I would move mountains for you, if I could turn back time, if I could fucking make everything right then I would. But I can't go back, we can't look back anymore when what we have now is so fucking special.'

'Special? Your ex-girlfriend is sleeping in your fucking bed Naomi, am I supposed to tell you that everything's going to be fine now because you told me it's okay? I can't do that. My life is a fucking joke.'

The tears in Emily's eyes were no longer directed at Naomi, she wasn't sure how she knew, she just couldn't believe they were anything else.

'But you came back Emily,' Naomi tried. 'You came back here. I want to fix things, surely that's what you want too, or why else would you be here?'

'To get away from my family.'

The truth hit Naomi hard, winding her instantly. 'Oh.'

'I can't stand living there anymore, I don't feel happy there. Your mum, she means a lot to me Naomi. That's the only reason I came back here.'

'Right, okay.'

Defeated, Naomi turned away. She'd cried in front of Emily before, had been doing it for the last few minutes. Even that didn't stop her turning her back to let out a number of sobs. Her shoulders shook, she couldn't handle the rejection. For the first time everything had been so clear, her love for Emily was all that mattered and then the decision had been taken away from her. She stepped towards the kitchen door.

'Naomi?'

Her name had never sounded so beautiful, or broken, all at the same time. Naomi gripped the bottom of her t-shirt as she struggled to control herself, the sound of Emily's voice causing her heart to break a thousand times faster. She was scared, terrified to move. In the end she couldn't avoid it, needed to look at Emily's beautiful face one last time. Before she could even focus her glossed over eyes, Emily darted towards her; fingers wrapping around her cheeks, her lips crashing against Naomi's almost knocking her over.

'Have I really got that good at lying?' Emily gasped, pulling out of the embrace, breathless. 'For fucks sake, I hate lying.'

'I hate you lying too,' Naomi replied, narrowing her brow. The last few moments confused her, knocked her for six until the pair of lips that matched her own forced their way back against hers. The final piece of the puzzle slotted into place and she kissed back, pulled the brunette slightly off her feet and swung her around.

When they finally pulled away and Naomi allowed Emily to rediscover the ground, they sat down together on the bench that Emily had refurbished.

'Abi's still here,' Naomi whispered, throwing the truth down between them despite the fear it could blow everything apart again.

'I know,' Emily muttered. 'Gina told me, it's her fault.'

'And you're okay with that?' Naomi asked, chewing on her lip.

Emily shrugged. 'Depends if the raised voices I heard earlier were you and Abi arguing or not.'

Naomi took a deep breath. 'She tried to tell me she wanted me, I told her that it wasn't going to happen.'

'Good.'

They sat in silence for a while, together, staring around the pitch black garden. Naomi kissed the skin on Emily's neck, unable to keep her mouth away from their lifeline. She wanted to speak, to say something that would make everything better. She just couldn't find the words. In the end, it was Emily that spoke.

'I love you Naomi, I fucking wasted a year because of you. I don't want to waste another.'

**Thanks for reading, please review.**


	17. Chapter 17: Emily

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, this is the penultimate chapter, we're so close to the end that you can almost taste it! Well not really because I've no idea what the end would taste like. But the next chapter is the last...**

It Ends Tonight; _Seventeen_

The house was quiet when they got back inside. Emily rubbed her bare shoulders in the hope of warming herself up a bit. She hovered in the doorway as Naomi pulled a bottle of vodka out of cupboards.

'Guess mum must have gone to bed,' she whispered, turning out the light and leading Emily upstairs.

Once in the bedroom Naomi closed the door, the vodka dropping to the floor as Emily forced her against it. She let her lips linger on Naomi's for a moment longer than usual, allowed her hands to rest on her hips with more confidence. Their lips smashed together again and their hands travelled over clothed skin, freeing them from their material barriers and sending their bodies into reactions from the touch.

'Jesus,' Naomi cried out, chewing on her lip. Emily pushed against her, holding her wrists above her head against the door. Their bodies quickly exploded in ecstasy brought on by the strength of feeling and desire they both had.

'Naomi,' Emily moaned in her ear, allowed her to slide the remainder of her clothes from her body until they were stood there almost naked. Emily wrapped her arms around Naomi's shoulders, pulling her back into a passionate embrace. They stumbled across the room until the bed knocked them down. Emily's knees buckled and Naomi fell on top of her, they laughed, kissing and sliding up the bed until they were comfortable.

'I've missed you so fucking much,' Naomi mumbled, biting on her lip.

'You say that like we've not had sex in a year.'

'We haven't, as a couple.'

Naomi's words sound so sexy and she wasn't sure why, they weren't unusual or particularly aimed as such, they just came out in a way that left Emily wanting more. She forced her fingers around the strands of Naomi's hair and forced their lips together as Naomi writhed on top of her. Their bodies moved simultaneously, assisting them in increasing the passion between them. Emily moved a hand to the back of Naomi's bra and carefully unhooked it, discarding the material and giving her free reign. She pushed her onto her back, straddled her and removed her own before wrapping herself tightly around Naomi, their naked bodies becoming one.

'Christ,' Naomi groaned, moving her hips to meet Emily's touch, her breath faltered as they moved together. Within minutes Naomi was panting for breath, pushing Emily onto her own back to return the favour as they continued to kiss and move their fingers across bare skin, sending them both into oblivion.

xxx

Long after Naomi fell asleep, Emily lay there in the dark watching her breathing. She'd thought about not much else for the past year, the possibility of going back to Naomi, being together again in the way they once had. It was different now. They had both grown up, had both experienced things neither wanted and life without each other. They were better together and they both knew it.

'I love you so fucking much,' Emily sighed into the night, moving a stray strand of hair behind Naomi's ear and chuckling softly at her opened mouth. She didn't care what she looked like, all that mattered was they were together, right where they should have been.

xxx

A loud bang woke them from their sleep. Emily groaned, reaching a hand out across the bed. When her fingers collided with skin, a smile formed on her lips and the night before flooded back. She moved her hand across Naomi's arm, enjoying the feel of touching her. Naomi was smiling back, her teeth bared as she grinned. Things were better now, better than they'd ever been and Emily could feel it. The love, the warmth, the togetherness. Nothing else mattered, not least their past. Then the noise that woke them repeated louder and they glanced towards the door in confusion.

'What?' Naomi shouted with a roll of the eyes and the door opened.

'Sorry to disturb you two,' Gina smiled weakly, not looking at all apologetic. In fact, she looked quite fraught.

Emily narrowed her eyes in Gina's direction. 'What is it?'

'I got a call from the local hospital, Abi was admitted last night.'

'She can't,' Naomi began in a relaxed tone. 'She was in the spare room last night.'

'I don't think she was,' Gina muttered. 'They said she took a drug overdose.'

A heaved breath caught in Emily's chest and she felt it tighten. Everything had been perfect, their lives were moving forwards, together. Now, now everything was taking a step backwards and she couldn't help feel angry. She hated herself for it, the poor girl was an addict, she was in hospital and all Emily could think about, was how quickly they'd be able to get away from her and move on.

'An overdose?' Naomi gasped, sitting up and wrapping the covers around her chest. 'She doesn't have any money to buy drugs, let alone enough to overdose on.'

Gina looked at them with downturned eyes. 'I know, then I checked my purse to find some money for a taxi and it was lying open in the lounge.'

'Fucking bitch!' Naomi snapped, sliding a t-shirt over her head and shorts up around her thighs. She climbed out of bed leaving Emily feeling cold. She'd wanted to cuddle, like they used to, lay arm in arm under the sheets until they really had to get up. But life was forcing their hand.

Gina looked at her daughter incredulously. 'Naomi!'

'What?' Naomi asked, rolling her eyes. 'We helped her mum, we let her stay and she fucking stole from us.'

'She has a problem. You know it's not that simple.'

Emily found some clothes and changed into them as Naomi and Gina debated whether Abi was in the wrong. She watched them until Gina left the room to make some breakfast and Naomi began rooting through her bag.

'What are you doing?' she asked, her voice coming out smaller than she expected.

'Trying to find some fucking money.'

'What do you need money for?'

'To,' Naomi began, throwing the contents from her bag and muttering to herself. 'To get a fucking taxi.'

She sounded angry, frustrated and Emily couldn't help feel like it was aimed at her. She wanted to cry, tried to hold back her sensitivity. When Naomi found a crumpled up note in the pocket of her trousers, Emily sunk onto the bed. She watched her change, wished she could enjoy perving on her as she slipped on a fresh pair of underwear or pulled her skirt up around her hips.

'Don't go,' she finally whispered, barely audibly. Naomi stopped, turned with a frown on her face and Emily regretted her words.

'I can't not go Emily, she's my fucking ex-girlfriend.'

'Exactly, _ex_-girlfriend,' Emily mumbled, unable to stop herself from being honest.

Naomi let out a long, loud sigh and perched on the bed beside Emily. She stared down at her fingers, hoping Naomi would say something instead of just sit there. After a few minutes her hand came down around her back and she was pulled into a semi-forced hug.

'I have to go, but that doesn't mean I don't love you.'

A number of tears hovering on the surface of Emily's eyelids along her cheeks and she settled into Naomi's embrace. She muttered that she loved her back and waited for Naomi to finish whatever she had to say.

'I have to go because I need to tell her that this can't happen, that she can't come to my home and interrupt my life. Before, she was harmless, she wasn't on the drugs and she was being her old self.'

'The old self that you liked?'

'No, Emily, well, yes. But I don't think of her that way, not anymore. I need to see her because I need to close that part of my life, so I can move on, so that _we _can move on.'

They dressed and ate in silence whilst Gina called them a taxi. Emily sat in the back seat with Naomi, their fingers interlinked the whole journey. She was angry and wished she could show it, but she wasn't really angry at Naomi. She wanted to support her and if Naomi thought it was the best way to move on, then she didn't want to be uncooperative. As they walked down the corridor towards the ward, Emily felt nervous. She'd never really spoken to Abi, the only contact she'd had involved being hit by her.

'Do you want to wait outside?' Naomi asked, rubbing hand sanitizer into her skin. Emily shook her head and did the same, following Naomi across the ward to a bed, where Abi was sat up.

'Oh,' she whispered, noticing their arrival.

'What the fuck do you think you're playing at?' Naomi snapped, folding her arms and staring at Abi.

'I, I'm sorry.'

Naomi rolled her eyes, her sarcasm not escaping either of them. Emily wanted to tell her to tone it down, but couldn't find the words. Instead she tightened her grip on Naomi's hand and swallowed the lump in her throat.

'Sorry for stealing money off my mum or for nearly killing yourself?'

'Naomi,' Emily tried, trailing off as Naomi nodded her head.

'You can't fucking act like nobody else matters. We let you stay, we trusted you and you fucking let us down Abi.'

'I'm sorry,' she tried again, tears forming in her eyes.

'Me too.'

Silence clouded them and Naomi let go of Emily's hand. She reached out for her, but she'd already moved closer to the bed.

'I tried to help you Abi, more than once. I can't do it anymore. I'm with Emily now. I'm sorry if I hurt you, if you thought we could be together, but what I said in London still stands here. It's not even about you, it's not about your drug problem. It's about where I'm at. I love Emily, I should never have left her and I know that now.'

'We could have been good together,' Abi cried out, wiping at tears. 'I understand, when I heard you telling Emily what she meant to you, how could I not? But it hurt so much.'

'You,' Naomi began. 'You heard what I said?'

'Every word.'

'Oh. Christ. You did this because of me?' Naomi's face dropped into her hand as Abi nodded.

Naomi closed her eyes, heaved a sigh and reached out to Emily for her hand. She took it, held it close and squeezed it in comfort. Words weren't needed to know that Naomi felt guilty. Emily felt protective over her and finally wasn't scared to admit it.

'You can't say that,' she gasped, squeezing Naomi's hand tightly between her own. 'You can't put the blame on Naomi when you did this. Sometimes people don't want to be with us, you just have to fucking deal with it and move on.'

Naomi closed her eyes and chewed on her lip. 'Emily.'

'No. She can't say things like that, you shouldn't feel guilty about this. It wasn't your fault. If she wants to top herself every time someone lets her down, that's her business.'

'She's right,' Abi agreed, looking shameful.

Naomi nodded. 'You need to get your head together, I can't help you with that.'

'I know. My dad's on his way down here, I'm going to start treatment.'

'Good.'

Once she'd said all she needed to, Emily left them alone. Being there with Naomi, she realised it was the right thing to do. She needed a proper goodbye, a chance to tell Abi that she wasn't going to be her support system anymore. A chance to move on. When Naomi re-joined her in the corridor, their fingers interlinked instantly and they shared a brief kiss. The taxi journey home was mostly silent, their fingers still together between them as they cuddled on the back seat.

**I hope you enjoyed, please review!**


	18. Chapter 18: Gina

_Disclaimer: _**Skins doesn't belong to me, anyone fancy kidnapping JB and Bryan Elsley so that I can? ;-)**

_Author Note: _**Hello there, yes, I know it's been about a year since I last updated this story. I seemed to have forgotten that I had just one chapter left, so here it is. All thanks to **ChocolateChipAmethyst** who kindly prodded me to write this. I hope it's okay (seems I'd written half of it aaages ago).**

It Ends Tonight; _Eighteen_

The kettle had only just finished boiling when Emily and Naomi arrived home. Gina set three mugs on the table and filled them with the hot water, each teabag turning the clear liquid various shades of brown. Gina tried her best to look nonchalant as the two girls walked in talking constantly to each other. She sat down and stirred her tea, wondering what exactly they were talking about.

'He wanted to, really he did.'

'He did not,' Naomi replied, rolling her eyes in that way she usually did.

Emily rolled her eyes back, picking up Naomi's habit. 'You didn't notice the way he looked at you when you bent over, he wanted you so badly.'

'He could go to hell for all I care.'

The girls finally sat down, their conversation ending on Naomi professing her love to Emily and the sharing of a kiss. When Naomi and Emily had first started dating, openly, seeing her daughter kiss anyone was a little strange. But times had moved on. It had taken her a long time to get to the place where she was comfortably with who she was, sexuality and all. If Gina was the kind of parent to tell her daughter exactly what was on her mind, she would have told her how proud she was. In actual fact she had, every day since Emily and Naomi came home from the hospital.

'I'm so proud of you,' she muttered again, reaching a hand out to Naomi's wrist on one side and Emily's on the other. 'Of both of you.'

The distance that had grown between Emily and her family was not repaired and she wondered if it ever would be. A loss that she bore for them. She imagined her life barely six months before; her daughter never called, never wrote, she didn't even visit. They were, in theory, strangers. On the other hand, whilst things with Naomi had improved, things with Emily remained unchanged and they still sat up playing cards well into the night once in a while. The Fitch family loss was her gain, hers and Naomi's. Even so, she saw the sadness in her surrogate daughter's eyes every day, the pain of someone who longed to be with the people she loved; all of them.

'Do we have to go through this every day?' Naomi snapped, though the smile on her face suggested her level of seriousness was lower than Gina first thought.

'And how did it go?'

'I got the job,' Emily grinned, her smile spread from ear to ear.

'I just knew you would,' Gina praised. 'First step the garden centre, next step, your own landscaping business.'

'I don't know about that.'

'I do,' Gina assured her, clutching her wrist again. 'You have a talent and it's going to get you far.'

After dinner they sat around the table with the box of dominos, betting the last of the ginger nuts. When she lost, Gina sat back and watch Naomi and Emily's conversation.

'Don't cheat.'

'You can't cheat at dominos.'

'You can cheat at everything.'

When the girls had gone up to bed and the noise had died down, Gina noticed how empty the house was. She was lucky, luckier than most and that thrilled her to no end. But when she was left alone she was reminded of how lonely it was. There was a time, not too long ago, when every day was filled with the same, eerie silence. She missed having someone, in the way her daughter had her girlfriend. As she sat there contemplating the future, she realised she needed to stop living only for the people around her. As much as she loved Emily and Naomi, she had to make time for herself again.

'Oh, shitting fucking prick,' she called out as she dropped a fresh mug of tea on the floor. She knelt down to clean it up and found herself sitting beside it. She was reminded again of Emily and her family. While she missed her daughter when she was away, she contemplated just how much Emily's family missed her and how much Emily probably missed them back. Even if she wouldn't admit it.

When she went to bed, she tossed and turned, never quite reaching a point where sleep overtook her. She didn't give up the fight, wanted to sleep, just couldn't stop the thoughts ticking around in her mind. Naomi was happy, her child's life had returned to a state of equilibrium and she no longer worried about her on a daily basis. Instead her worries were only for Emily. She hated night, especially when plagued with her inability to sleep. She could get so much more done if she didn't have to spend hours trying to sleep and especially if the world was awake just like she was.

By morning Gina had barely slept a wink, which was less of a loss as she now knew what she needed to do. She got up early, there was no point wasting the few hours she could make use of. She cooked a large breakfast, more than was needed, she noted that she would have to go shopping again after using up every egg and slice of bacon in the house. Then she brewed a pot of tea and sat down, waiting for an hour she could class as suitable to wake up her daughters. Despite the eight am on the clock, Naomi still grunted at her from her slumber to which Gina laughed. The two girls took a while to emerge from their sanctuary. As they arrived in the kitchen, Naomi raised an eyebrow in her direction once she'd spotted the pile of plates and copious amounts of food. Emily on the other hand sat down, filling her plate and pouring herself a cup of tea.

'What's going on?' Naomi asked, sitting down cautiously.

'Breakfast,' Gina informed her, with a warning glare not to mess with the plan that Naomi had already realised was being put into place.

'Which tea is this Gina?' Emily asked, sipping it quickly.

'I put a couple of different bags in there, orange and the citrus blend.'

'It's wonderful.'

'Don't have any tea Naomi,' Gina muttered at the same time the doorbell rang. Emily barely lifted her head as she reached a fork out to Naomi who accepted eggs into her mouth.

'Emily, we have some guests for breakfast,' Gina announced as the Fitch family followed her from the doorway and into the kitchen. 'Sit down, have some tea. There's bacon, eggs, tomatoes and some beans on the hob.'

'Thanks Gina,' Rob grinned, rubbing his hands together and sitting down.

'What?' Emily gasped, looking around at her family who sat around her. 'What are you doing here? What are they doing here Gina? Naomi?'

'Nothing to do with me,' Naomi shrugged, vacating her seat under Gina's request. 'I was hoping to have breakfast.'

'Make yourselves at home,' Gina assured everyone, she knew she should have explained the situation in greater detail to Emily, she just didn't think it mattered quite as much as getting her talking to her family again.

'Anyone want beans?' Rob asked, holding the pan up and spooning some onto his plate.

'Gina?' Emily tried again, ignoring the carefree conversation going on between Jenna, Katie and James.

'Breakfast with family,' Gina smiled. 'Come on Naomi, we're going to the café down the road for ours.'

'But,' she began, letting out a groan as she followed Gina into the hallway.

Gina stopped by the door, watching Emily return to her food, cautiously joining in the conversation around her. She didn't move until a smile had formed on her lips and she talked freely with her father.

'Are we going?' Naomi snapped, muttering under her breath. 'Get me out of bed and don't even give me any fucking breakfast.'

'Yes,' Gina assured her, wiping a stray tear from her face. She caught Emily's eye, who smiled back at her. They could leave now, now that she knew Emily would be okay.

'Well?' Naomi asked again as Gina walked slowly towards her.

'I'm coming, I'm coming,' she rolled her eyes at her daughter before they stepped out of the house. They would stay out for as long as possible, or at least until Emily called to let them know her family had left. Even if Naomi didn't want to. Sometimes it didn't matter what Naomi wanted, or what she wanted, maybe not even what Emily wanted, sometimes all that mattered was that none of them were alone.

**THE END** (_finally_)


End file.
